The Truth Revealed
by Azaelia Silmarwen
Summary: This story is now mostly up for those who have already favourite'd it. Please check out 'The Exposed Truth' instead. [/s/10577338/1/The-Exposed-Truth]
1. Chapter 1

**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT CLAIM OWNERSHIP OVER THE ORIGINAL COPYRIGHTED MATERIAL IN THIS STORY. THIS IS A NON-PROFIT FANDUB CREATED BY FANS, FOR FANS. NO COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT INTENDED, FAIR USE ONLY.**

**BLURB:** What if Voldemort caught Harry and Dumbledore when they were in the cave trying to get to the Locket Horcrux?

**WARNING:** This story is anti-Dumbledore and many of the other main characters of light.

**STORIES IN SERIES:  
**-The Truth Revealed  
-The Truth Revealed: What If

**A/N: **I would like to thank Spy for the Right for her help.

* * *

**CHAPTER ONE**

Harry felt a hand grab his arm, and pull him out of the clutches of the Inferi, who had taken him underneath the cold, dark water. Once out of the water, Harry clung to his saviour's chest quietly sobbing, while his saviour tightly wrapped their arms around him. For the second time in his life, Harry felt safe; the exact same way he felt when Mrs Weasley held him after Cedric's death.

'Thank you, Professor,' Harry sobbed into Dumbledore's chest. 'I'm sorry, I forgot all about using fire to get rid of them.' Then after a short pause, Harry whispered, 'I've never been so scared in my life, even when I have faced Voldemort, I have never felt so scared.'

'Really? I guess I need to try harder then,' came the cold voice of his saviour.

Harry froze. He had thought that his saviour was Dumbledore, who else could it of been since it was only the two of them there? How wrong he was. Harry slowly looked up into the face of Lord Voldemort. However, it wasn't as he remembered. Voldemort had somehow regained his Tom Riddle appearance. Hazel eyes, jet-black hair with a few grey hairs and pale skin.

After vaguely wondering why Voldemort was holding him like that, and after recovering from his initial shock, Harry quickly tried to get out of Voldemort's grip, but failed horribly. Voldemort kept a tight grip on Harry's wrist. Even when they both got up from the ground, he did not let go. Once off the ground, Voldemort dragged Harry over to the slumped form of Dumbledore. For a horrible moment, Harry thought that Dumbledore was dead, but that was until Voldemort bent down, wand in hand, and muttered a few spells under his breath. Eventually, Dumbledore opened his eyes and looked up at the grinning Voldemort and the drench, shaken, but otherwise all right, Harry.

'Get up, Dumbledore!' hissed Voldemort, pulling Harry back against him with his wand digging into Harry's neck. 'Or else.'

Slowly, Dumbledore got to his feet and looked around for his wand, but then he noticed that Voldemort had both his and Harry's wand in his pocket. They were both defenceless.

'Hurry up and get into the boat, Dumbledore,' Voldemort said impatiently.

Dumbledore, unsteadily, got into the boat and watched as Voldemort forced Harry into the boat before him. Once they reached the opposite shore, Dumbledore, unsteadily, got out of the boat followed by Harry who ended up back in Voldemort's firm grip the minute Voldemort was one dry land. The strange thing though, was that Harry's scar wasn't hurting with Voldemort touching him or being close to him. Not that he was complaining, but it did make him feel uneasy.

When they reached the wall, Voldemort cut Dumbledore's hand and made him open the doorway. The trio walked in silence towards the sea, with the only sound being their footsteps echoing around the cavern. Dumbledore led the party with Voldemort and Harry right behind him, during which time, Voldemort's wand never left Dumbledore's back nor did his grip loosen around Harry's upper arm. When they arrived at the entrance of the cave, Voldemort slipped his wand up his sleeve and roughly grabbed Dumbledore's shoulder and Apparated them away.

The moment they arrived at their destination, Voldemort pushed Dumbledore away from him, causing Dumbledore to crash to the ground and laughter to erupt around the hall that they were standing in. It was a little smaller than the Great Hall at Hogwarts. It was also well furbished with dark green curtains and throne sat at the end of the Hall with a great snake wrapped around the top of the throne. The room was also packed with laughing Death Eaters.

'Crabbe. Goyle. Please escort Dumbledore to one of our _lovely_ cells.' Voldemort smirked down at the vulnerable old man.

Crabbe and Goyle Senior roughly grabbed Dumbledore and dragged him unceremoniously out of the hall, followed by Voldemort with Harry. Harry thought that Voldemort was taking him down to the dungeons with Dumbledore but was surprised when Voldemort led him up a flight of stairs while Crabbe and Goyle led Dumbledore down a flight of stairs.

Voldemort led Harry through the mansion, along long corridors and up many flights of stairs. Eventually they came to a pair of dark mahogany doors. Harry knew that these would be Voldemort's personal chambers, but why was he taking him there? Was he going to make Harry his slave or toy or something? Harry shuttered at the thought. He was probably overreacting. Maybe he had been listening to too many of Dudley's movies and reading too many books about evil lords that take prisoners and everything. Besides, as evil as Voldemort was, Harry seriously doubted he'd be that sick. Once inside the room, Voldemort marched over to a door that led to a walk-in-robe, which Harry soon found out, as he was pushed in to the small, black room.

However, before Voldemort locked him in the wall-in-robe, Harry caught sight of a huge portrait above the fireplace. The portrait was of a smiling Tom Riddle. A smile that Harry had never seen grace Voldemort's features before. A smile that was full of happiness and love? As you can imagine, this one little detail shocked Harry. He didn't even think that Voldemort knew how to smile like that! Anyway, Voldemort was standing with his arms around a beautiful woman with chocolate-brown hair and dark green eyes that were full of love and understanding. The woman was holding a baby, which Harry assumed was only a new born, no more than six weeks old with the same dark green eyes and a tuff of jet-black hair. Finally, there was a young man, maybe nineteen or twenty, that stood next to Voldemort and he looked like a carbon copy of him, except his eyes were the same colour and the baby's and woman's.

**-THE TRUTH REVEALED-**

Harry sat in the middle of the wall-in-robe for what felt like hours. He didn't even bother to find a light switch, seeing as he couldn't even see his own hand in front of his face let alone look around for a light switch. True, he could have felt around for one, but knowing Voldemort there was probably some strange dark artefact in the room, and knowing Harry's luck, he would find it and end up doing damage to himself. So instead he sat there thinking… thinking about the lady in the portrait. Why had she seemed so familiar to him? It's not like he would have meet her before if she were close to Voldemort. Maybe she was one of his Death Eaters? No, he would have remembered her if she was. No matter how hard Harry tried to think of how she would look so familiar, he always ended up at a brick wall.

Suddenly, Harry heard the door unlock and then it opened letting in bright light. Once Harry's eyes adjusted to the sudden light, the first thing he realised was that it was dawn. The second thing that he realised was that Voldemort was staring at him.

'You can come out if out want. Breakfast will be served soon,' Voldemort said coldly, before he walked away to his desk and began to write a letter of some sort.

At first, Harry just remained where he was. Was this some sort of trap? Would he walk out and get hit by a dozen curses or something? Nah, if Voldemort wanted to hurt him, he would have dragged him out and started to do it already. But why was he telling Harry about breakfast being served? Was he going to feed Harry instead of kill him?

After a while Harry cautiously came out of the wardrobe and looked around but just like last night, his attention was driven to the lady in the portrait. Slowly, Harry edged his way to a table in the middle of the room and sat down on one of the chairs that surrounded it, never taking his eyes away from the lady's. When he did look away for the portrait, it was abruptly, and that was when he heard a knock on the door.

'Enter,' called Voldemort.

The door opened to reveal Severus Snape. Snape quietly shut the door behind him and walked into the room, pausing briefly when he saw Harry sitting at the table watching him. He walked over to Voldemort and sat next to him on top of his desk waiting for the Dark Lord to finish writing his letter. During this time he stared at Harry thoughtfully.

Harry was definitely now confused, and not because Snape was looking at him thoughtfully, even if that was weird to see that expression on his most hated professor's face. No, Harry was confused because of the way Snape acted around Voldemort. Every time Harry had seen Death Eaters around Voldemort, they were always tense and would kneel in front of him until he told them to do otherwise. Snape on the other hand was acting so casual. No fear in his body language whatsoever. It was as though he was just sitting next to one of his work _colleagues_ at Hogwarts during a Quidditch match. Normally if a Death Eater did that, they would be under the Cruciatus Curse before they could say "forgive me".

When Voldemort had finished his letter and had placed it in a tray on his desk, he turned smiling, yes smiling, to face Snape, but as soon as he took one look at Snape's face his smile disappeared and was replaced with a look of exasperation. It seemed that it was a look that Snape was used to for he quickly looked at Harry and then back at Voldemort.

'Don't worry about him,' said Voldemort. 'He won't be telling anyone, and even if he did, who would believe him?'

Then, before Harry's very eyes, Snape's appearance changed into an older version of the nineteen year old painted in the portrait.

'What news do you have?' Voldemort asked as though nothing had just happened.

'We only lost two Death Eaters last night for they were captured by the Order of the Phoenix. The Markus brothers, I think it was,' replied Snape. 'Why did you want us to pull out, after months of planning, Father?'

Harry's jaw literally dropped. Father? Well, that explained Snape's, no Riddle's behaviour, but Harry couldn't believe it. Voldemort was a father? He would have expected Bellatrix to be a mother before Voldemort became a father. That also explained the portrait. How could Harry be so stupid and not realise that the teenager had to be Voldemort's son. Why else would he look like a carbon copy? However, if Sn-Riddle was Voldemort's teenage son in the portrait, did that mean that the woman was Voldemort's wife and the baby another one of Voldemort's sons? Why hadn't anyone told him that Voldemort had a family?

'I caught Dumbledore and young Harry trying to get to one of my Horcruxes,' said Voldemort, interrupting Harry's thoughts and never ending list of questions. 'I brought them back here in order to find out how many Horcruxes they know of and how many they have destroyed. I also found out that they are not the first to go after my Horcruxes.' Voldemort handed his adult son the locket that was in the basin. 'Do you know who R.A.B is?'

'R.A.B? Weren't they Regulus Black's initials? That would explain his sudden disappearance if it was.'

'True,' agreed Voldemort, before he turned and faced Harry. 'So, young Harry, are you going to be a good boy and tell us all that you know about my Horcruxes?'

Harry just glared at Voldemort.

'I'll take that as a no.' Voldemort sighed. 'Oh well. I'll get my answer soon enough.' He then turned and looked at a House-elf that had just appeared with the breakfast.

Once the house-elf had left, Voldemort and Sn-Riddle walked over to where the breakfast laid and where Harry was sitting and began to dish it out. To Harry's amazement Voldemort dished out a generous serving for him. Harry eyed it warily. Had Voldemort put something into it, without him noticing? To be safe, Harry muttered a number of spells under his breath, checking for poison or anything else that might have been slipped into his food. This little display of wandless magic didn't go unnoticed by Voldemort and Riddle.

'I'm impressed, young one,' said Voldemort. 'Most wizards don't have enough power or strength to be able to do wandless magic, let alone the spells that you used. Out of curiosity, who taught you? Mad-Eye Moody? Dumbledore himself?'

Harry, seeing no harm in answering, replied, 'No, Remus Lupin taught me, actually.'

'Remus Lupin? The werewolf?'

'Yes.'

'How interesting. Well, you don't need to worry about us poisoning you for we want you to be healthy for what you are going to help us with. So, eat up.'

'I'm not helping you with anything!' snapped Harry, glaring at Voldemort.

'I don't think you have a choice, Potter. Whether you do it willingly or not, it will be no skin off our noses,' Riddle smirked. Harry then aimed his glare at him. How could Dumbledore ever trust that – that… dungeon bat?

'Sanaro,' Voldemort said warningly. 'Do you have any Polyjuice Potion on hand?'

'Yes, when would you want it?' Sanaro asked, giving his father a curious look.

'Straight after breakfast would be nice,' was all Voldemort said, returning to his breakfast.

After breakfast, Voldemort went down to the dungeons and into the torture chamber, which currently held Dumbledore.

'Whatever you do to me, Tom, I will not talk! Nothing in this whole wide world will make me talk!' Dumbledore said weakly as soon as Voldemort walked into the room.

'We shall see,' was all Voldemort said as he prepared everything that he needed, without looking once at Dumbledore. When he was done, he walked back to the door and called out to Lucius Malfoy.

Next minute, Lucius Malfoy walked in with a struggling Harry, before chaining the small teenager to the wall opposite Dumbledore. Voldemort noticed a huge amount of fear across Harry's features; even his body language expressed how he felt. He also noticed the desperate look he sent his Headmaster. A looking crying out to hear the words, "Everything will be alright" from Dumbledore. Voldemort looked back at Dumbledore, wondering why he hadn't started to comfort the child, when he noticed a strange gleam in the old man's eyes. Voldemort shrugged it off, and turned back to Harry.

'Now we shall see how much Dumbledore really cares for you,' Voldemort said quietly in Harry's ear, before he addressed Dumbledore.

'Here's how it is going to work, Dumbledore. You are going to answer all of my questions and if you do, we won't hurt young Harry. However, if you refuse… we will torture him inhumanly until you talk. Understand?'

'Perfectly.'

'Good. Let us begin. How many Horcruxes do you know of?'

Silence.

'How many Horcruxes have you destroyed?' Voldemort tried again.

Silence.

'How did you find out about them?'

Silence.

'Are you going to answer any of my questions?'

Silence.

'Did you not understand the part about Potter being tortured if you didn't speak?'

Silence.

'Very well; Lucius, hit Potter with the Cruciatus Curse for as long as you can hold it or until Dumbledore speaks.'

Lucius complied. He held it for twenty minutes. Twenty minutes of Harry screaming and begging for it to stop. Twenty minutes in which Dumbledore remained silent and Voldemort became uneasy.

'Let's try again, Dumbledore; how many Horcruxes have you destroyed?'

Silence.

'Lucius, pull out the boys fingernails,' said Voldemort, without turning around. He just continued to stare at the old man, trying to understand him. He didn't even turn around when Harry began to plead.

'No!' screamed Harry. A sound that Voldemort had never heard come out of the boy's mouth like so. 'Professor, please, Professor!' Realising that his beloved Headmaster wasn't going to help him, Harry started to plead with Voldemort instead, but nothing helped. No matter how much Harry struggled, screamed and begged he didn't get any mercy. His screams filled the room as Lucius began to slowly pull out each single one of Harry's nails. The whole time, Dumbledore remained quiet.

Two hours later; Harry was still pinned to the wall, crying and covered in blood, trying to recover from the last means of torture Voldemort got Lucius to inflict on him.

'I grow tired of this game, Dumbledore,' Voldemort growled, hiding his current confusion of why Dumbledore was not reacting to anything they did to the "Golden Boy". He was also growing uneasy. It was almost as though Dumbledore wanted him the torture the boy. 'If you do not answer my questions, I will kill him!'

'No, please.' Harry sobbed pathetically, finally broken. 'Please stop.'

Voldemort ignored what Harry said; instead he walked over to the "Chosen One" and put his wand under Harry's chin.

'Last chance, Dumbledore.'

Silence.

'Very well. AVADA KEDAVRA!'

Harry dropped dead in his chains. Voldemort motioned for Lucius to undo the boy's restraints. Lucius obeyed and undid Harry's restrained, with shaking hands. He then let the corpses fall to the ground with a thud. Voldemort turned back to Dumbledore, and he nearly dropped dead himself.

Dumbledore was smiling.

Voldemort just stared at Dumbledore, not understanding the old man chained up in front of him. Why was the old coot grinning, when he had just killed the boy in front of him? Lucius was currently in the background looking as though he was going to be sick. Lucius could torture any adult without flinching, but when it came to children… he hated it, as did most of the Death Eaters, especially those with children of their own. Voldemort himself didn't like it, but this case was difference. Very different.

'Why are you grinning Dumbledore?' demanded Voldemort. 'How can you be so happy when your "Golden Boy" was just tortured and killed right in front of your very eyes?'

'He has never been my "Golden Boy" as you put it.' Dumbledore laughed, dropping the grandfather act. He never acted in front of Voldemort or the other Death Eaters unless one of the light followers were around. 'More of a puppet or a pawn would be a better name for him.'

'Explain!'

'I sent him to the Dursleys knowing that they would beat him and make him obedient, but sadly they were unsuccessful and I have no use for someone like him. He was also growing too powerful. Bluntly, you have done me several favours regarding the boy.'

'What do you mean?' Voldemort's mouth had become very dry.

'Firstly; you removed one of my greatest threats. Secondly; you destroyed one of your own Horcruxes, and thirdly; you killed your own son!' Dumbledore smirked triumphantly.

'What do you mean "I've killed one of my sons?"?' Voldemort asked, totally perplexed. He could understand the part about Harry being one of his Horcruxes. He couldn't believe he only just figured it out, but he couldn't understand the second part about his son. 'I know for a fact that Sanaro is outside watching and you killed my youngest sixteen years ago…' He slowly closed his eyes in understanding. 'You never killed him, did you? It was a trick, an illusion of some kind.'

'That's right! I never did kill your precious little brat! I had the Potter's adopt him seeing as the Potter's own son had only just died and no one knew about it yet. I thought that it would be a clever plan to have him kill his own father when he was older, then I would get him thrown in Azkaban or killed, but I like this outcome better. Now you will need to live with the guilt knowing that you killed your own child! "The Dark Lord murders his own sixteen-year-old son, Damian Marvolo Riddle". I can see it now in the Prophet.' Dumbledore laughed cruelly, hoping that he was inflicting pain on Voldemort.

He was wrong.

'Sanaro,' Voldemort said, motioning to his son through the mirror next to the door, from which Sanaro was currently watching everything, but he wasn't the only one that saw and heard everything that had been said.

Dumbledore stopped laughing immediately when Sanaro walked in. Not because he recognised him as his Potions Master at Hogwarts and trusty spy, but because Voldemort's eldest son led in a very upset and a very, very angry, Harry Potter.

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**A/N: **If you send me a review anonymously with a question for me, check the chapter you were questioning about a few days later and the answer should be at the end in a Q&A section if it is something specific and doesn't give away the rest of the story. All logged on reviews with questions will be answered directly.

All information regarding this story can be found on my profile page.

**Azaelia Silmarwen facebook page:** link on profile  
**Written:** 17 March 2011  
**Updated:** **  
Beta:**


	2. Chapter 2

**CHAPTER TWO**

Harry, or as he now knew his real name being Damian, stood there livid. He felt betrayed and lied to, not to mention used. How could the man he always saw as a grandfatherly figure have been plotting to kill him or thrown in Azkaban? Not only that, he _paid_ the Dursleys to treat him as a slave, as a house-elf, and took him away from his real family, a family who probably loved him. Damian wouldn't have believed it if he hadn't heard it with his own ears. Dumbledore was indeed a good, no, fabulous actor to make everyone, well nearly everyone, fall for his grandfather act when instead he is a sick, low old man, in polite terms. Who else would take a child away from their parents when they're not even a year old, making the said parents believe that the child is dead, and then raised the child to either kill their father or have their father kill them?

Damian now understood why he felt so safe in Voldemort's arms when the man saved him from the Inferi, and why Voldemort held him the way he did. It was the subconscious father and son bond at work. While their brains did not know it, their hearts did. He also understood why he had never truly been upset when Lily and James died. True they were his adopted parents in a way, but they weren't his actual parents. They were more like strangers in the sense of things.

Then there was that woman in the portrait. He now knew why she seemed so familiar. He had no doubt in his mind that the woman was actually his mother. However, this led to more questions. Damian had never seen Voldemort with any woman or heard mention of Voldemort having a partner, so was she still alive? Would she still want him? Would anyone in his family still want him? After all, Damian had ruined many of his father's plans and his wasn't exactly his brother's favourite student. Then again, looking back on most, if not all, of their fights they had over the years, Damian could see a brotherly element in them. The exact same element he saw when Ron and Percy fought.

Speaking of Ron, how would he react to this? How would any of his friends react to this? Would they still want to be his friend? After all, _he_ hadn't changed, only his parentage, and he would definitely be joining his father if he got the chance, but don't be mistaken. He would not join his father to get rid of all Muggle-borns and Muggles, unless it was the Dursleys. No, he would only join him to get rid of Dumbledore and show the world the truth, for those that didn't know the real Albus Dumbledore and were currently being fooled like he had been.

Damian's trail of angry, worried and revengeful thoughts was cut off when he became aware of Dumbledore talking to his father. His father… he would need to get use to that.

'It seems that you were able to deceive me, Tom,' Dumbledore snarled. 'But who, may I ask, is the person you had just tortured and killed?'

Voldemort didn't answer. He was too angry and too shocked to speak. His son was alive. His little Damian was alive, was all he kept thinking over and over again in this head. He was also thinking of ways to get back at Dumbledore, but that much was clearly obvious.

Dumbledore clicked his tongue in annoyance when he got no reply, and was about to ask again when he noticed that the body on the floor began to change. Judging by the way the body began to change, he realised that Voldemort had used Polyjuice Potion on whoever it was, and due to the death, the body began to change back to its original state. Voldemort or his son, Sanaro, must have added a spell or something to the vile to make the body change back once he found out that he had been tricked. Dumbledore didn't have to have to wait long to see who it was. Seconds later the body revealed that it was one of Dumbledore's spy's that was pretending to be Harry Potter. How, Dumbledore did not know. He would have to find out.

'Clever, Tom. You were always one of the brightest students to ever grace Hogwarts' halls. Polyjuice Potion. Very clever, but how did you manage to find and use one of my spies?'

Voldemort, who had managed to suppress his anger, for the time been replied, 'I'm just lucky that I have a son that is able to detect spies easily, and thank you so much for confirming our suspicions that there are more spies among my faithful Death Eaters.' He then paused as he watched Dumbledore curse himself for letting it slip, before he moved on to answer Dumbledore's over question. 'You should know better than anyone that I am very _persuasive_,' he said with a smirk.

Dumbledore knew exactly what he meant. When he said that he was persuasive, he actually meant that he had possessed the person that he _persuaded_.

Voldemort stared at Dumbledore for a few minutes before he turned to face Lucius, telling him to take Dumbledore back to his cell with four guards on it night and day. This was a very bad idea, turning his back on Dumbledore that is. See, the moment that he had turned his back, Dumbledore somehow got out of his restraints, moved with a surprising amount of speed for someone his age, and grabbed hold of Voldemort, holding his wand into Voldemort's throat.

'Father!' cried Sanaro. How on earth did Dumbledore get out of those restraints and how come he had his wand on him? His father had locked it up the first chance he got.

'Dear me, Tom. Haven't you ever learnt not to turn your back on your enemy? Even enemies that _appears_ to be weak?' Dumbledore whispered into Voldemort's ear.

Voldemort said nothing.

Dumbledore laughed.

Damian hated that laugh and everything that Dumbledore had made him do, finally made him break. The torture chamber began to become windy, and not just a slight breeze, but a breeze that is strong enough to knock down trees and powerlines. The equipment in the room began to rattle and some of the smaller pieces of equipment were lifted into the air and thrown about. Essentially, it was very frightening. Next minute, Dumbledore was on the floor screaming in pain. Voldemort, Lucius and Sanaroall looked at each other, wondering what was happening, until they looked down at Damian and saw the red gleam in his eyes. It was the same red gleam that Voldemort acquired when he was extremely angry.

Voldemort quickly rushed over to his son and took him in his arms, whispering to him.

'Calm down, little one. I know what he did was wrong, terrible, and above all, low. I know that he has put you through much pain with his lies and by pretending to show you love, but this isn't the way to deal with it. Using your magic like this is dangerous, Damian. Not just for the people around you but for yourself as well. Please son, calm down. We will bring him to justice and I promise you can help. I promise you that he won't hurt you anymore, but please, calm down.'

Damian eventually calmed down and Dumbledore's screams subsided. Damian stood there with his head down for a moment before he collapsed with exhaustion. Luckily, Voldemort still had his arms around him, and was able to catch him.

'I'm alright,' muttered a very pale Damian, when Sanaro asked if he was alright. 'Just need to sit down.'

Voldemort wordlessly handed Damian to Sanaro before turning to Dumbledore.

'I guess you were right. He is a major threat to you and the best part is you are the reason why he has become one,' he hissed, before picking up Dumbledore's wand and handing it to Lucius. 'Lucius, please escort Dumbledore to his cell, and make sure that there are four guards guarding it day and night. There should be four guards standing outside waiting.'

Lucius went over to the door and called in the four masked Death Eaters. He ordered them to take Dumbledore back to his cell and guard it. Two of the guards went and grabbed hold of Dumbledore, then they half-dragged and half-carried him out of the room, led by Lucius with the other two Death Eaters bringing up the rear.

'Sanaro, would you be able to take Damian either to your room or to mine so he can have a lie down,' Voldemort said, after a few moments.

'I don't need to lie down,' Damian grumbled, forcing his way out of Sanaro's arms and holding onto a wall for support, 'and don't call me Damian!'

'But that's your name,' said Sanaro, 'and you do need to lie down. You can barely stand!'

'I don't need your help!' Damian snapped, glaring up at his brother. 'Why do you want to help me anyway? You hate me! And frankly, I despise you too!'

'Damian, we don't hate you,' Voldemort said quietly.

Damian's glare didn't vanish, but it did implement a, 'I don't believe you look.'

'Don't look at me like that! It's true. We do not hate you, you just annoy and irritate us at times.'

'Whatever. If you truly care about me, you'll let me go.'

'And where will you go?' Sanaro asked quietly. 'Will you return to those Muggles? Or will you return to Hogwarts where there are those who lied to you? Can you seriously continue to live the lie?'

Damian stared at the older man. Sanaro was right; he didn't have anywhere to go.

'Listen, Damian,' Voldemort began, making his youngest son's eyes snap to him. 'I know that we have had our confrontations in the past, but with time, we can work everything out.'

'I doubt it. I'm not about to forget the times that you have tried to kill me! How do I know that you won't try to gain my trust before stabbing me in the back so you don't have to worry about the prophecy and me?'

'Are you saying that you will still fight with Dumbledore?' Voldemort was nothing but shocked.

'I did not say that! I want nothing to do with him, just like I want nothing to do with you!'

'Damian, be patient and at least try to live the life you were meant to live.'

'Fine. It's not like I can do anything else… at the moment.'

'Very well. Sanaro, how about you show Damian Sedona, while I deal with the blasted paperwork.'

'Sure thing, Father.' Sanaro laughed, while Damian grudgingly nodded, wondering who or what Sedona was.

Sanaro knew how much his father hated paperwork. When he was a little kid his father would make any excuse to get out of doing the paperwork, which usually involved him, such as playing with him. It worked for a while until his mother caught on and used a Sticking Charm on him to make him stay at his desk until all the paperwork was finished.

'Come on, Damian. Let's leave father to fight his most difficult enemy ever!' Sanaro said, quickly leading Damian over to the door.

'Oh, get out of here, brat!'

Sanaro laughed even harder and left the chamber with a perplexed Damian.

'What did you mean that Voldemort is going to face his most difficult enemy?' asked Damian. He stubbornly refused to acknowledge that Voldemort was his father. 'I thought that he was going to do paperwork?'

'He is. Father hates paperwork that much and he can never get on top of it, so when I was younger I started to call it his difficult enemy and it has just stuck,' Sanaro replied, smiling down at Damian. He was so ecstatic to have his baby brother back, though he was worried. He knew that Damian would not want him as an older brother. Why would he after everything he had done to him? 'Come, I'll show you Sedona.'

'Who is this Sedona?'

'You'll see,' was all Sanaro said as they came up to the entrance, before he muttered, 'I forgot that they would be here.'

Standing in the entrance was none other than Bellatrix Lestrange and a group of other Death Eaters.

'Master Sanaro, how good to see you again…' Bellatrix trailed off as she caught sight of Damian.

'Good to see you again too, Bella. The raid went well I assume?' Sanaro replied, ignoring her questioning gaze.

'Sadly, no. What we thought was one of the Order's members house turned out to be a trap,' she said sadly.

'How many were lost?'

'Five. Two were killed, while the other three were taken prisoner, we assume.'

'Right. Father is in his office taking care of some paperwork. You should go and see him immediately.'

'Yes, Sir.'

Sanaro nodded to her and led Damian outside. Damian had never seen somewhere so beautiful. The gardens were full of different flowers, trees and statues along with fountains. The lawn was pure green with not a single dead patch. Around the property was a forest and he thought that he could hear a waterfall in the distance. He was brought back to reality when he heard Sanaro chuckle beside him.

'If you think that this is beautiful, wait till you see Sedona.'

'So, is Sedona a place?' Damian said, before he clicked his tongue in annoyance when Sanaro didn't answer him.

The two of them crossed the lawn and headed towards the forest. When they first entered the forest, they had to climb over fallen trees, branches and plants, but when they could no longer see the mansion, they came to a path. Damian looked up at Sanaro enquiringly.

'We try to keep Sedona a secret, that's why our ancestors started the path here,' explained Sanaro.

'Ancestors?'

'You know… our relatives from years ago.'

'I know what an ancestor is; I just didn't know that this was our ancestry house,' Damian said hotly.

'Yeah, it belonged to Mother's side of the family, the Ancalime's, for thousands of years.'

They walked the rest of the way in silence, and Damian could hear the waterfall more clearly now. Suddenly they came to a clearing with a gorgeous lagoon with a small waterfall with crystal blue water running into it. The grass was covered in dew and was soft underneath Damian's feet. The breeze was refreshing and the whole place was peaceful. He could now understand why it was kept a secret. It was a place untouched by man.

'What does Sedona stand for?' asked Damian, sitting on a rock next to the water's edge, while Sanaro sat on a log.

'Tranquil,' Sanaro said simply, and Damian thought that she had been named well, for she was indeed tranquil. 'When you were a baby, we would all come down here on a hot summers day and have a picnic together.' Sanaro said, staring out across the lagoon, as though he was lost in memory, but then again, he probably was, Damian thought. 'It was the only time Mother would allow Father to get away without doing his paperwork. You use to splash in the shallows and would giggle when Father made the water do strange but beautiful things. At the end of the day, we would sit underneath the stars and Mother would sing you to sleep with a lullaby that had been past down for generations.'

'Were we happy?' Damian asked curiously, wanting to know more about his family.

'Happy wouldn't even begin to describe how we felt. The feeling we felt together… words could not describe it. After that night, we believed that our family would be broken forever.'

'Please, tell me what happened. How did I end up with the Potters?' Damian pleaded. He figured he might as well learn how he got entangled in this mess.

Sanaro looked deep into Damian's eyes and upon seeing the longing, he decided to answer.

'When you were born, I was currently studying at a Muggle university – yes, I studied in the Muggle word -, in the educational department, and I hadn't seen our parents for a year. I was nineteen. When you were born, I was already spying on the Order. It was through them that I learnt of your existence. You can imagine I quickly hurried home to see if it was true, and it was. You were a week old, when I first saw you. From that day, our family became stronger. Alas, it was not to last. I had heard the Order's plots to take you away and… well; you already know what the plans were. Then, when you were three months old, we all awoke to you screaming and crying. Seeing as you normally slept through the night, we all rushed to your room where we met a number of Order members. Mad-Eye Moody, Abertforth Dumbledore, Minerva McGonagall, Kingsley Shaklebolt and Albus Dumbledore, just to name a few. The old coot had you in his arms, and what we could make out, he was arguing with McGonagall. Anyway, the Order caught sight of us and we had all their wands pointing at us, except the coot's and McGonagall's. Dumbledore mocked us and before our very eyes, used the Killing Curse on you, or so we thought. Mother was hysterical, actually that would be an understatement, she fell down to the ground screaming, crying and clutching her heart, while Father was furious, though that doesn't even begin to describe his anger. Meanwhile, I was staring at what I thought was your body. Next thing I knew, Mother was on the ground screaming even louder and she was withering in pain, and all the Order members had vanished. From that day on we were broken, but now it will change. Now, we will become whole again.'

Sanaro and Damian eventually left the clearing and headed back to the mansion for lunch. This time they had their meal on a balcony coming off the main dining hall. Voldemort was already sitting there with Nagini curled up on his lap.

'How was your morning?' Nagini asked as they sat down. 'Did you show Damian Sedona, Sanaro?'

'Yes, and I also ended up telling him about that night, Mother,' replied Sanaro.

'Mother?' Damian gasped, falling off his seat.

'I thought you said that you told him about that night?' Voldemort asked Sanaro, whilst offering Damian a helping hand, which his son ignored.

'He did,' replied Damian. 'He just forgot to mention that you were alive and is currently in a snake body. The way he explained it, it sounded as though you were dead,' he added, glaring at his brother. 'So, how exactly did you end up as a snake?'

'We are not entirely sure. We think that Dumbledore might have created a spell to trap me in my Animagus form, or I somehow got trapped like this when I thought that you were dead,' answered Nagini.

Sanaro, you mustn't have done a good job of telling your brother about that night,' Voldemort scolded.

'I guess it didn't,' Sanaro said, thinking back.

Voldemort just shook his head and turned to Damian.

'Did you like Sedona?' he asked cautiously. He didn't want to set his son off.

'Like would be an understatement,' Damian admitted, swallowing a mouthful of lamb sandwich. He had checked his food again for any hidden nasties. He still didn't trust everyone. 'I have never been somewhere so peaceful and beautiful.'

'I always feel the same,' said Nagini, smiling a snake-like smile. 'There is something really peaceful about Sedona...'

'My Lord!' exclaimed Lucius, running in with blood soaking his long blonde hair.

'Lucius!' cried Sanaro, jumping up and running over to his best friend. Out of all the Death Eaters, Lucius was the only one who knew Sanaro's secret identity. 'What happened?' he asked, forcing Lucius gently into a chair.

'Those four Death Eaters that I was with, turned out to be Order members.' Lucius panted, putting his hand to the wound at the side of his head. 'I was about to lock Dumbledore in the restraints when they attacked me for behind. I got here as fast as I could.'

'But you took him down couple of hours ago,' said Sanaro, voice shaking with anger, but not aimed at Lucius. 'What did they do to you?'

'Well, the good news is, no prisoners can get out of those restraints unless they have help,' said Lucius, revealing his red raw wrists. 'I was lucky that Crabbe came down to the dungeons to feed the prisoners.'

By this point Sanaro was shaking with anger. How dare they? He would personally make them pay. He quickly took a small black box out of his pocket and un-shrunk it revealing it to be a wizarding first-aid kit, full of potions and salves. Sanaro then set to work healing Lucius' cuts and bruises. During this time, Damian watched his brother work and Voldemort sat looking out across the grounds, looking thoughtful.

'Sanaro, how much Veritaserum do you have?' he asked eventually.

'Ten cauldrons.'

Ten… ten cauldrons! Why do you have so much? Not that I'm complaining, but ten cauldrons!' exclaimed Voldemort, looking at his son as though he had just grown another head.

'I thought that I would get ahead and make a lot at one time,' Sanaro shrugged, making Lucius laugh. 'Why?'

'I will be holding a meeting tonight seeing who is loyal and who isn't. That way, I know that my family and Death Eaters are safe,' Voldemort replied.

Lucius left after Sanaro had healed him and the four Riddle's went back to lunch.

'Something wrong, Damian?' Voldemort questioned, noticing a small frown appear on Damian's face.

'It's just… I don't know what I look like. Do I look like you, her or Sanaro? Or do I look like no one?'

'Well, I can try and break the spell that Dumbledore put on you now if you want?' Voldemort suggested, and he was pleased to see that his son willingness to try it.

Voldemort got up and walked over to Damian, who tensed dramatically, and began to mutter different spells under his breath. An hour later, Damian still looked like James Potter. Voldemort finally discovered the spell that Dumbledore had used on his son and unfortunately to break it; Damian needed to drink a potion that took several months to brew.

'I don't suppose that you have the potion needed on hand, do you, Sanaro?' Voldemort asked hopefully.

'No, but I'll get started on it straight away,' said Sanaro.

**-THE TRUTH REVEALED-**

That night, Damian went to his first ever Death Eater meeting, though he did not go willingly. Seeing as Damian didn't have any clothes at the Ancalime Manor, Sanaro had to shrink a few of his Muggle clothes; Damian refused to wear wizarding robes. Sanaro also shrunk one of his black hooded-cloaks for Damian to wear in order to keep his face hidden.

Damian and his family arrived early to make sure they were seated before the Death Eaters arrived. The meeting was being held in the same room Damian first saw when he was first brought to Ancalime Manor, but that seemed long ago. After all, he was a prisoner when that happened, though he still felt as though he was a prisoner. There was one difference in the room, though. Instead of there being only one throne, there were now three.

'Why are there three thrones?' asked Damian, making Sanaro roll his eyes at his brother's stupidity.

'Where do you expect us to sit, dimwit? On the floor?'

'Honestly, I was expecting to be standing throughout the meeting,' replied Damian.

'Well, you can, but the three of us aren't,' said Sanaro.

'Alright, cut it out you two.' Voldemort laughed, as he saw Damian open his mouth to no doubt retort. He was already sitting down with Nagini on his lap. Sanaro sat on Voldemort's left, while Voldemort motioned for Damian to sit on his right.

When the Death Eaters began to file in, Damian muttered, 'This feels _so_ weird.'

Voldemort heard Damian's comment and had a lot of difficulty holding in a chuckle. Of course many Death Eaters had seen him laugh, but this meeting was different. This meeting was serious.

Once all the Death Eaters were assembled, Voldemort allowed them to talk amongst themselves for a while. He was pleased to hear that most of them were wondering who the hooded figure sitting next to their Master was.

'Who's that?'

'No idea.'

'It must be someone important.'

'Looks like a child, judging by their size.'

'Sanaro never had a child, did he?'

'Not as far as I know.'

The muttering quickly subsided when Voldemort rose to his feet, allowing Nagini to take his chair.

'You are probably wondering why I have called this meeting, but first, you must also be wondering who the hooded figure on my right is,' Voldemort began.

Damian watched in amazement as he saw all the Death Eaters remain quiet and give Voldemort their undivided attention, except when they occasionally glanced at Nagini, Sanaro or himself. He now knew where Sanaro got it from, and how he could control a class as he did.

'As you all know, over sixteen years ago my youngest son, Damian, was killed.' The crowd moved uneasily. They all knew how much pain their Lord's family went through that night. 'However, this morning we discovered it to be a lie. He was in fact adopt by one of the Order's families, and Dumbledore had him raised to either be killed or kill me, my family, and any Death Eaters that got in the way, before he was to be tossed aside like some sort of rag doll. Thankfully, Dumbledore's _brilliant_ plan backfired when he accidently told Damian everything down in the torture chamber. With that said, let me introduce my sixteen year old son, Damian,' Voldemort concluded proudly.

Grumbling slightly about having to do this, Damian got to his feet and walked over to his father. Once standing beside him, he lowered his hood, making all the Death Eaters, except the Malfoys, who already knew, gasp.

'Yes,' continued Voldemort, 'Harry Potter is my son, Damian. In saying this, I expect you to treat him with the same respect that you treat Nagini, Sanaro, and me. You may sit down, son,' Voldemort said quietly to Damian.

Damian quickly obeyed. He did not like all of the Death Eaters looking at him. Nor did he like Voldemort calling him son.

Once Damian was seated, Voldemort raised a hand to quiet his Death Eaters, who broke out muttering about what they had just learnt.

'This brings me to the main reason for our meeting tonight. Every Death Eater in this room, except the Malfoy's and Lestrange's are to be tested to see if you are loyal to me, and if not… well, you know what will happen if you're not. To prove this, you will each take some Veritaserum then answer me. Proceed.'

One by one the Death Eaters lined up, took some Veritaserum and told Voldemort whom they were loyal to. In the end, they had caught ten spies and they were killed immediately. Damian purposely looked off in the opposite direction when this happened. He didn't believe in killing.

'Crabbe. Goyle. Make sure that the bodies are found by the Order to serve as a warning. The rest of you, except you Lucius, are dismissed,' Voldemort ordered.

Once all the Death Eaters had left, Voldemort collapsed into his chair and accepted the glass of water off a house-elf, while Nagini curled up on his lap again.

'Voldemort?' Damian began hesitantly.

'Mmm?' Voldemort said, looking at his son. He was a little annoyed that Damian was calling him Voldemort, but it was to be expected. He bet it would be years before Damian would call him father, if he ever did.

'Will I be able to return to Hogwarts?'

'I don't know, Damian. It would be extremely dangerous. Dumbledore will be looking for any reason possible to get his hands on you.'

'I thought that would be the answer,' Damian muttered glumly. 'So you're telling me that I'm stuck here forever?'

Voldemort sighed. He was a big softy when it came to his wife and his son's.

'If you agree to follow some rules while at Hogwarts, then I can't see a problem with it.'

'Okay, what are these rules?' Damian enquired eagerly.

'Firstly, I will give you a two way mirror and you are to contact me every night and tell your mother and me exactly about what happened that day, unless we tell you not to.'

'Yes, I can do that.' Damian didn't sound too thrilled about it though.

'Secondly, if anything happens, contact me immediately or go straight to Sanaro. In saying that, if you are in major trouble, try and get to the Chamber of Secrets as it will be the safest place for you to be.'

'I understand.'

'Thirdly, stay within Hogwarts at _all_ times. Seeing as you are the Heir of Slytherin, she will protect you whilst you are on her ground, meaning Dumbledore can't lay a finger on you! In saying that, don't give him any reason to try, such as breaking any rules or getting into any trouble.'

Damian nodded.

'Very well, remember those rules and you can stay at Hogwarts.'

'I guess you're going to send Snape, I mean, Sanaro –'

'You can call me Sanaro,' said Sanaro.

'Whatever – you'll send him to get me resorted into the House I was meant to end up in?'

'Of course. I believe Sanaro would be the best person to take you up, for Hogwarts would protect him and he has to be up there any… Wait! What do you mean, "Into the House you were meant to end up in"?' Voldemort demanded, realising what Damian had just said. He thought that his son was a Gryffindor no matter what part of his personality you looked at.

'Er, the Sorting Hat was going to put me into Slytherin, but I convinced it not to, seeing as I hadn't heard nice things about that particular House,' Damian admitted, realising that he had just put his foot in it. If only he had kept his mouth shut, he might have been allowed to stay in Gryffindor.

'I can't believe that you were going to end up in Slytherin, even if it does make sense for you to be there,' said a purely shocked Sanaro.

Voldemort smiled.

'If you want, you can go back tomorrow night. Allow the population of Hogwarts get use to your presence.'

'I'm happy to do that, not that I have a choice,' Damian muttered with a worried look.

Damian, what's wrong?' Nagini asked, concerned by her son's worried look.

'How will my friends react?' was all Damian said.

'If they are really your friends, then they will stay by your side, no matter what,' said Lucius, making Damian jump. He had forgotten that he was in the room. 'And from what I have seen, you are very close to them and them to you. If they weren't, why else would they have gone with you to the Department of Mysteries?'

Damian nodded. Lucius was correct. He had nothing to worry about.

* * *

**Azaelia Silmarwen facebook page:** link on profile  
**Written:** March 2011  
**Updated:  
Beta:**

**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT CLAIM OWNERSHIP OVER THE ORIGINAL COPYRIGHTED MATERIAL IN THIS STORY. THIS IS A NON-PROFIT FANDUB CREATED BY FANS, FOR FANS. NO COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT INTENDED, FAIR USE ONLY.**


	3. Chapter 3

**CHAPTER THREE**

The next morning, during breakfast, the Order of the Phoenix Amulet that Sanaro wore, started to glow. Dumbledore had called an Order meeting.

'Wonder what to coot wants at this time of morning?' Voldemort yawned, paying the owl that had just delivered the Daily Prophet. He yawned again and looked down at the front page of the paper. 'Um, Damian, you know how you wanted to tell your friends about our recent discovery?'

'Yeah,' Damian said slowly, not knowing where his father was going with this conversation.

'Well… I don't think you'll have to tell them,' he said bluntly.

'What do you mean, "I won't have to tell them"?' Damian demanded, eyes narrowing.

Wordlessly, Voldemort handed Damian the Prophet.

Damian accepted it with confusion clearly written over his face, but he wasn't the only one. Sanaro also looked confused at Voldemort's little speech and Nagini looked as confused as a snake could get. However, Damian's confusion quickly vanished once he saw the huge heading on the front page of the Prophet. _Dark Lord's Youngest Son Alive!_ _Damian_ _Marvolo Riddle's Secret Identity Revealed._ Under the heading and subheading, there was two pictures side-by-side. One was a picture of Voldemort when he was sixteen and the other was of Damian, taken after Sirius' death.

Damian quickly read the article out loud;

'_Last night it was revealed that You-Know-Who's youngest son, Damian_ _Marvolo Riddle, 16, was confirmed to be alive and has been living amongst us. Shockingly, You-Know-Who's son is none other than Harry James Potter, the Boy-Who-Lived, the Chosen One and the Defender of Light. We must now ask ourselves; is he still the same hero we have always known or has it all been an act in order for He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named to become victorious?… See page 3 for more details_.'

'That's probably what the Order meeting is about,' muttered Sanaro, putting a comforting hand on Damian shoulder. Damian tensed slightly.

'I want to come with you!' Damian said suddenly, looking over at his brother.

'No!' exclaimed three different voices. They didn't need to ask what he meant.

'Why not? If I stay silent and hidden, they'll never know that I was there!' argued Damian. 'I want to see how they react to this news, especially Remus.'

'He has a point,' Sanaro said slowly.

'Surely, you or Voldemort can cast a powerful enough Disillusion Charm on me!' Damian said, pressing forwards, seeing that he might get an ally.

'What if they do discover you there?' Nagini demanded angrily. She was not going to sit for this. 'I can't lose you again! It's bad enough sending Sanaro there, let alone you!'

'I'll be fine,' Damian said confidently. 'Besides, if Dad makes an emergency Portkey for me…' Damian added trailing off, leaving the suggestion in the air.

Voldemort smiled at Damian. His son argued a good case. He was right. None of them would know that he would be there, and if he was discovered, he would be able to escape. Sighing, Voldemort took off the chain around his neck that had Slytherin's crest on it, muttered "_Portus_" under his breath and then handed it to Damian.

'Keep this on you at all times. If anything happens say "Ancalime" and it will bring you straight here,' he said, handing Damian the Portkey - who quickly slipped over his head - and tried to ignore the look Nagini was giving him for letting their youngest son go into the Lion's Den. 'You two better be going, but first…' Voldemort tapped his wand on top of Damian's head, putting his son under the Disillusion Charm. While he did that, Sanaro changed into Snape. Once they were both ready, Sanaro took Damian by the hand and Apparated them away to number twelve Grimmauld Place.

Damian and Sanaro arrived just outside of the Headquarters and stood there looking up and down the street for a moment.

'Why is Grimmauld Place their headquarters still?' Damian whispered as a group of cyclists rode past. 'Especially since Dumbledore knows the truth? I could easily let Voldemort see my memory of the note that allowed me access!'

'No idea and I doubt I ever will know,' Sanaro admitted, crossing the road and walking up the path to the front door, then quietly opened it, allowing Damian to quickly enter before entering himself.

Damian stood there looking around. He never wanted to come back to this place, not after Sirius' death. It was then that the thought hit him… did Sirius know the truth of his parentage? And if he did, did he only pretend to love and care for him? Or maybe, just maybe… he did love and care for him, regardless of who his parents are.

Damian silently followed his brother down to the kitchen, where the meeting was obviously being held. Once they entered the kitchen, Sanaro took his seat and Damian went and stood in a dark corner where no one would accidently walk into him.

'Ah, Severus. I was wondering where you were,' Dumbledore said cheerfully. Damian could now decipher Dumbledore's true motives and emotions. Now that his eyes had been opened, he could see all that was fake and all that was real… about Dumbledore anyway.

'Yes. It was a bit difficult to excuse myself from the Dark Lord's presence,' Sanaro said.

'And what, may I ask, did Tom want?' inquired Dumbledore.

'To discuss the safety of his son, Damian…'

'Why didn't you tell us?' Mrs Weasley interrupted quietly, looking straight at Dumbledore.

'I didn't believe it to be important. With young Damian being only a child…'

'NOT IMPORTANT? WE LET THE SON OF A MONSTER INTO OUR HOUSE! HANGOUT WITH OUR CHILDREN! HE DATED OUR DAUGHTER, ALBUS, AND YOU SAY IT WAS NOT IMPORTANT FOR US TO KNOW?' bellowed Mrs Weasley.

Before Dumbledore could answer, Remus rounded on her.

'What is that suppose to mean, Molly?' he demanded. 'The Harry – I mean, Damian - we know has not changed! He will still be the same kid we have always known! Sure there might be a few _minor_ changes but that's it. You're only seeing what you want to see! Look at Sirius! You never said such things about him even though he came from a dark family and grew up with all their opinions!'

'Calm yourself, Remus,' Dumbledore said sternly. 'I know that the boy is your cub, but you need to realise that the chances of him being the same kid you knew… well, there's a very small possibility that he will remain the same,' Dumbledore concluded sadly, making Damian roll his eyes.

'I'll believe it, when I see it!' Remus said stubbornly, before facing the corner that Damian was standing in. For a horrible moment Damian thought that Remus could actually see him, but he soon dismissed the feeling. Besides, even if he could see him, after that little speech, he wouldn't alert the Order to Damian's presence.

'You were saying, Severus?' Dumbledore said, giving Sanaro his full attention.

'Yes,' Sanaro began, glaring at the other Order members, daring them to interrupt him again. 'As I was saying, the Dark Lord summoned me to discuss Damian's safety while he is at Hogwarts…'

'Sorry, Severus, but it sounded as though you said "while he is at Hogwarts"? Tom wouldn't send Damian back to Hogwarts, would he?' Dumbledore said, eyes twinkling madly.

'Yes, he does,' Sanaro said, clearly annoyed with all the interruptions.

Damian smirked at his brother's impatience. The real reason that they were late was because as soon as they had Apparated away, Voldemort quickly summoned them back to discuss what Sanaro should tell Dumbledore.

'Seeing as the boy is the Heir of Slytherin, he will be safe as long as he is within Hogwarts as Hogwarts herself will protect the boy. However, the Dark Lord does not think that Hogwarts is adequate enough protection, so he has ordered me to keep an eye on the boy.' Sanaro looked displeased about having to babysit Damian.

Damian let out a quiet chuckle. Unfortunately, it was heard, but only by Remus. He was still staring at the spot where Damian was standing and his gaze softened. Damian noticed his and realised that Remus knew that he was there.

After a minute of silence, where everyone was lost in their own thoughts, Sanaro asked, 'What are you planning on doing with the boy, so I don't get in your way with protecting him?'

'At the moment, I don't have a plan as such. All I know is that we should take him away from his family once more,' Dumbledore said. 'As much as I hate to do it, it will be best for everyone. We can't take the chance on another Dark Lord appearing. We were too late to save Sanaro Riddle, but we still might have a chance to save Damian.' Many of the Order members nodded in agreement.

'If that is all you need me for, Headmaster, I must go. The Dark Lord is an impatient man,' Sanaro said, beginning to stand up.

'Of course. If he asks, tell him that you know that we want to take Damian away, but we haven't decided how. I think it will be safe for him to know that,' replied Dumbledore, smiling up at Sanaro pleasantly.

Sanaro inclined his head and made for the door.

'Oh, and Severus?'

Sanaro stopped and Damian nearly ran into him, seeing as he was following him closely.

'Please, keep me informed.'

Sanaro once again nodded and walked out of the kitchen with Damian hot on his heels. As they left, Damian had a funny feeling that Remus' eyes followed them out of the kitchen.

**-THE TRUTH REVEALED-**

That night Sanaro took Damian back to Hogwarts, looking like his real self, Sanaro Riddle.

'Explain to me why you are taking me into the Great Hall in front of everyone?' asked Damian, looking up at his brother as they entered the castle.

'I just want to make Dumbledore wet himself and to get you re-sorted without him interfering.' Sanaro shrugged.

Damian couldn't help but roll his eyes.

When they arrived outside the Great Hall, they could hear the clatter of silverware slowly subsiding and Dumbledore beginning to address the students.

'You ready?' whispered Sanaro.

'No, but let's do it now before I chicken out,' Damian said, attempting to close off all emotion from his face the way Sanaro had taught him earlier that day.

Sanaro snorted at the thought of a Gryffindor chickening out and pushed open the doors to the Great Hall, cutting off Dumbledore's speech.

'Sorry to interrupt, Dumbledore,' Sanaro sneered, walking confidently into the all with Damian walking behind him. Damian made sure that he avoided eye contact with his peers. 'But I just thought that I'd drop my brother off for the last few weeks of school.'

'I'm afraid that he is no longer welcome here, as stated by the Ministry,' Dumbledore said, portraying his grandfatherly act.

'The Ministry, however, doesn't have that kind of power over any of the Founders' Heirs, in this case Slytherin's Heir,' Sanaro said matter-of-factly.

Dumbledore was silent.

Sanaro smirked.

'My brother is also to be resorted into his correct House, in order to undo the mistake he made in his first year,' continued Sanaro.

'Then after the feast, I will take him up to my office and…'

'No,' Sanaro interrupted, eyes narrowing dangerously. 'You will do it now! Father doesn't want Damian anywhere near you in private.'

'Very well,' Dumbledore said, before summoning the Sorting Hat. Moments later it came flying into the Hall and into Dumbledore's hands.

With a lazy flick of his wand, Sanaro made the Hat leave Dumbledore's hands and to land in his own hands before putting it on Damian's head.

'Well, well, well. The youngest Heir of Slytherin has decided to go with what I said all those years ago,' the Sorting Hat said in Damian's ear.

_You knew that I was the Heir of Slytherin! Why didn't you tell me?_ Damian thought.

'You never asked and Dumbledore forbid me to tell you,' it answered. Damian made a mental note of that. 'Now, why don't you go and join your other Housemates in SLYTHERIN!'

No one clapped; they just remained in shocked and fearful, as though their worst fear had been confirmed. Damian handed the Hat back to Sanaro, who handed it to Pansy.

'I'm guessing that the house-elves have started to move Damian's belongings the correct dormitory?' Sanaro inquired, looking at his fingernails, which nearly made Damian laugh. Since when did Sanaro do that? If he was pretending to be arrogant and a snob, or something along those lines… he was doing a very good job.

Dumbledore only nodded in response.

'In that case, I'll just go and make sure Damian settles in all right. You boy!' Sanaro suddenly barked, pointing at Draco Malfoy. 'Take us to the common room and let us in, as I can see the Head of Slytherin is unavailable,' he added scanning the Head Table.

'Yes, sir,' said Draco, knowing that Sanaro was only acting harshly.

Once the three of them had left the Hall, Sanaro and Damian dropped their indifferent masks, and Sanaro turned to his godson.

'How are you on this fine evening, Draco?' he asked cheerfully.

'Better now that I saw that!' Draco laughed.

'That's good, but I'm afraid that I'll have to leave you now and bring back the greasy old dungeon bat, who is currently meant to be in the Forest picking potion ingredients. Remember what Father said, Damian. I'll see you later.'

Damian and Draco watched Sanaro walk towards the grounds. Once he was out of sight, Damian and Draco looked at each other for a few moment before Draco said, 'Come on, we better head to the common room.'

Damian nodded and followed Draco down to the dungeons. Damian and Draco walked in silence to the Slytherin Common Rooms. Draco did not speak until they reached the bare stretch of a damp stonewall, and it was only to give the password "Slytherin's are supreme".

'Why do I get the feeling that you have been here before?' Draco asked as they went up to the dormitories.

'How do you come to that conclusion?' Damian asked, walking over to his new bed.

'Did you know that you actually led me here instead of the other way around, plus you stopped exactly in front of the common room entrance?' Draco said, sitting down on his own bed that was next to Damian's.

'No, I didn't actually realise I did that,' Damian replied honestly. 'I guess people do remember directions even if they have only been to a certain place once before.'

'So you have been here before. When?'

Damian turned around and faced Draco. Instead of seeing the arrogant Slytherin he meet at Madam Malkin's he saw someone simular to himself. He figured he might as well give him a second. Besides, he was going to need someone to talk to.

'In our second year,' admitted Damian. 'Ron, Hermione and I made some Polyjuice Potion in secret in Moaning Myrtle's bathroom and snuck in here to find out who was the Heir of Slytherin. It is also the reason that Hermione ended up in the Hospital Wing looking like a cat,' he added, trying not to laugh at the memory.

'I wondered how that happened, but what I don't understand is how you got in here without the password and how you managed to find here in the first place?'

Damian just sat there smiling at Draco in a peculiar way.

'Why are you smiling at me like th-at…?' It had hit him. 'You and Weasley were Crabbe and Goyle that day "Crabbe" had the "stomach-ache" and "Goyle" was wearing the glasses telling me he had been reading. I feel like an idiot!'

'You shouldn't. There was no way for you to know that we weren't actually Crabbe and Goyle,' Damian said reasonably.

'True. To be honest I thought that they were being their normal selves except… odder.'

Damian started laughing and soon Draco was laughing too.

'You know what, Malfoy? You're alright,' Damian said, holding out his hand.

Draco, realising what Damian was doing, accepted his hand.

'You too, P-Riddle.'

The other Slytherins arrived shortly afterwards and they found Damian and Draco sitting on the couch near the fire, laughing and swapping stories over a friendly game of chess. They stood or sat there observing the pair before they decided to either join the pair or go about their own business. After all, if Draco was able to get along with the once "Golden Boy", then they could too.

**-THE TRUTH REVEALED-**

The next day, Damian went down to breakfast with Draco and as soon as entered the Hall it went silent, except for the Slytherins. Damian knew immediately that they had been talking about him. It didn't take a genius to figure that out.

'Just ignore them,' Draco muttered out the corner of his mouth, sitting down next to Pansy while Damian sat next to Blaise Zabini.

'By the end of the day I'll be an expert at it,' Damian said grumpily, as the Hall became noisy again. 'Seeing as I'm still in the same classes that I was in before I found out that I was Voldemort's supposably dead son.'

'Why do you still have the same classes?' asked Blaise. 'Shouldn't your classes have changed to Slytherin times where necessary?'

'Professor Snape said that because there's only a few weeks left of school that there was no point in changing my classes this year. At least that's what Dumbledore told him to tell me,' Damian replied moodily. He didn't want to face his friends so soon.

'That sucks!' said Theodore Nott.

'Tell me about it,' Damian muttered. 'I've got Transfiguration first, Gryffindors only.

'Well… good luck with that,' Pansy said sympathetically.

Damian just gave her what he hoped was a smile.

He did need the luck, in any case. As soon as he turned up at the classroom he was under attack.

'What are you doing here, traitor?' snapped Parvati. 'Last time I looked this was a Gryffindors only class, or did you forget that you are no longer a Gryffindor?'

'If you have a problem with me then go and talk to Dumbledore, but seeing as he is the reason that I'm still in this class, I don't think that it will get you very far,' replied Damian, leaning against a wall with his arms crossed while his eyes sort out Ron and Hermione's… he didn't like what he saw.

Ron's features held anger and something else, but Damian couldn't decide what emotion it was. Hermione, however, had denial in her eyes and sadness in her eyes. She also looked like she was about to cry.

He luckily didn't have to say anything to them for McGonagall opened the classroom door to let them in. Normally, Damian would have gone and sat next to Ron and Hermione, but he knew that it would be uncomfortable if he did, especially since he wasn't a hundred per cent sure on where they stood in terms of friendship or enemies. So instead, he sat at the back of the room by himself, half hidden in the shadows, which probably didn't help with the way people now saw him.

Sadly, the rest of his classes were just as uncomfortable as Transfiguration and he was glad when they had finished for the day.

**-THE TRUTH REVEALED-**

'Come on, it couldn't have been that bad,' Voldemort smiled.

Damian was currently sitting on his bed, with a privacy charm up, talking to his father through the two-way mirror. He had just finished telling his father about his horrible day.

'Well it was. From what I can see, most, if not all, of the Gryffindors hate me, and the Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs might be the same!' Damian then sighed. 'I wish I knew where I stand with all of them. Six years of friendship must mean something to them.'

'Well, why don't you just go up to them and ask them bluntly?' Voldemort advised, even if it wasn't something a Slytherin would do, but he hated seeing his son so depressed.

'I guess that's all I can do,' Damian said, 'but I'm not looking forward to it.' Then a thought hit him. 'Are you alright with me being friends with Muggle-borns and everything?'

'Damian, I have nothing against Muggles and Muggle-borns. I would be a hypocrite if I did. Look at my father! Anyway, if I did, do you honestly think that I would have let Sanaro go to a Muggle university or you walk around wearing Muggle clothes? Nah, it's just a rumour that Dumbledore made up.'

'Okay, just making sure.'

'Anyway, Damian, can you meet, along with Sanaro, me in the Chamber of Secrets at ten o'clock this Saturday morning?'

'Yeah alright, but why do you want me there?'

'I just want to teach you some basic, well not basic-basic, but a few things that can protect you from Dumbledore, just in case. Well, it's getting late, you should go to bed.'

'If I must. Night.'

'Goodnight, my son.'

* * *

**Azaelia Silmarwen facebook page:** link on profile  
**Written:** March 2011  
**Updated:** **  
Beta:**

**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT CLAIM OWNERSHIP OVER THE ORIGINAL COPYRIGHTED MATERIAL IN THIS STORY. THIS IS A NON-PROFIT FANDUB CREATED BY FANS, FOR FANS. NO COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT INTENDED, FAIR USE ONLY.**


	4. Chapter 4

**CHAPTER FOUR**

The following day was Saturday. Damian woke up early and had a quick breakfast in the kitchen before sneaking down into his brother's quarters.

Sanaro was still asleep when Damian arrived, so in order to wake his brother up, Damian conjured ice-cold water to pour over him. Worked like a charm. Sanaro fell out of bed with a yell and looked over up at Damian.

'Are you early?' he asked, getting to his feet, deciding to ignore the method Damian used to wake him. 'I know I set the alarm to go off at eight, so I could get a few things done before I met up with you and Dad in the Chamber at ten… YOU WOKE ME UP AT FIVE-THIRTY IN THE MORNING!' Sanaro yelled, catching sight of the time.

'Yeah, I have a question,' said Damian, sitting on the edge of Sanaro's bed, where it was dry.

'Couldn't it have waited until later on?' Sanaro yawned, sitting down next to Damian.

'No. Can anyone enter a Hogwarts common room regardless of what House you are in?'

'Yes. There are two ways one could enter. The first way is to be invited in; while the second option is that you must possess one of the Founders qualities, such as a Gryffindors bravery or a Ravenclaws intelligence. And if you are asking if it is against the school rules then the answer is no.'

Damian sat there pondering what he had just learnt before he jumped up and cheerfully said, 'Thanks, Profes – I mean - Sanaro. See you at ten!'

'It's too early for anyone to be that cheerful,' Sanaro groaned, before he called out to his brother, 'The passwords "Horntail".'

Damian smiled and ran out of Sanaro's quarters. Of course Sanaro would get the general gist of what he was up to.

Damian did not stop running until he was in front of the Fat Lady, who was asleep in her frame.

Controlling his breathing, Damian said "Horntail" to the Portrait, which opened after muttering something incomprehensible in her sleep.

Damian quietly walked into the Gryffindor common room and sat in one of the chairs in the shadows waiting patiently. This was obviously not one of his Gryffindor traits. You're probably wondering what he was up to. Well, in Gryffindor there is a certain routine that takes place every Saturday morning. The vast majority of Gryffindors would sleep into eight, before heading down to the Great Hall for breakfast. Then they would do whatever they want as long as they were back in the Common Room by nine o'clock for the weekly meeting, which was run by the Prefects.

Eventually nine o'clock rolled by and the Gryffindors were ready to begin. No one had noticed Damian yet.

'Okay, the first order of business today is Damian Riddle,' began Ron. Damian felt as though a cold hand had grabbed his heart. 'We'll have to keep a closer eye on him and the other Slytherins from now on.'

'Why?' asked Neville.

'He's You-Know-Who's son, Neville!' Ron said as though he was speaking to an idiot. 'Just think about it, You-Know-Who's son being in Slytherin means a lot more potential Death Eaters!'

'I think you're wrong, Ron,' Hermione said quietly. 'We have seen no evidence that Harry has changed.'

'Open your eyes, Hermione. He's a bloody Slytherin!'

'What's that got to do with anything?' Hermione cried angrily. 'He's still our friend, and if you recall, his brother said that they were correcting a mistake Harry – er – Damian made in his first year, which means that he was going to be placed in Slytherin before now!'

'That means he has been lying to us from the very start!' Ginny intervened angrily.

'I don't believe that!' Hermione retorted.

'Why are you standing up for a son of a monster?' demanded Lavender.

'Because he isn't a monster himself and he is my friend! Besides, if he was really a monster why did he save the Philosopher's Stone when he could have given it to his father? Why did he save Sirius from the Dementors? Why did he bring Cedric's body back? Why did he try to protect us at the Department of Mysteries and teach us how to fight to protect ourselves? Or save Mr Weasley or Ron from the poison or you from the Chamber of Secrets, Ginny?' Hermione argued.

'For someone so smart you are acting really dumb,' Parvati said nastily.

'Hermione, don't you see? He did all of that to gain our trust,' said Dean. 'Besides, you forget that we are Muggle-borns… filth in his eyes!'

'That's not true,' Damian said quietly, unable to stay quietly any longer.

Those who were closes to him jumped quickly away and drew their wands.

'What are you doing here?' Ron demanded also drawing his wand. 'You are no longer a Gryffindor, so you can't be here!' After a moment's pause he added, 'How'd you get in here anyway?'

'I entered through the portrait, just like everyone else.' Damian knew what Ron really meant, but he just wanted to annoy him. He was already starting to pick up Sanaro's habits.

'I meant how did you get in here without the password?'

'That's for me to know and you to never find out,' replied Damian.

The top of Ron's ears started to turn red.

'Was it Snape?' he questioned bluntly.

'Was what Snape?'

'Was Snape the one who let you into our common room?' Ron said, turning redder.

'As if I would ask Snape for help with something like that! I got in here without his help.' Technically it wasn't a lie. Sanaro actually told him the password without his disguise on.

'What do you want?' Ginny said furiously.

'To see where we stand and so far Hermione's the only one I can see that might still be my friend,' Damian said, looking over at Hermione.

'Will you join him?' Hermione asked, desperate to see if her friend was still the same.

Damian didn't answer straight away.

'All I want from Voldemort is his help to take down Dumbledore,' he said gently, walking over to her. 'I promise I won't become a murder… unless I'm murdering Dumbledore.'

'What about Muggles and Muggle-borns?'

'Hermione, do you think that I would be here talking to you if I hated Muggle-borns?' Damian asked lightly.

Hermione let out a sob and Damian hugged her tightly, which she returned.

When they broke apart, Neville walked over to Damian.

'You have always been an excellent friend and I would be foolish to throw such a friendship away. Until the day you change for the worst, I will be your friend. And even then, I will try to make you see the error of your ways.'

'Thanks, Neville,' Damian replied. When no one else said anything Damian continued. 'I guess I will be off with this all said and done. I will see you guys later.'

Head held up confidently, Damian left the Gryffindor common room lighter than he was before, now knowing whom his true friends were.

Upon leaving the Gryffindor common room, Damian decided to go to the Great Hall to meet up with Draco.

Damian found Draco sitting with Blaise and Theodore at the Slytherin table. As he was walking over to them, he found his path blocked by a girl with long dirty blonde hair and radish earrings.

'Hi, Luna,' Damian said a bit warily, wondering what she was about to say.

'Hi, Damian, just want you to know that I'm still going to be your friend even though You-Know-Who is your father.'

'Um, thanks, Luna.' Even though he had known Luna for a year, he still wasn't use to her out of the blue comments.

'You're welcome,' she said, before skipping out of the Hall.

Damian watched her leave before going over and sitting next to Draco.

'Where have you been?' Draco asked.

'I've been in the Gryffindor common room.'

'The Gryffindor… wait what were you doing there?' said Blaise, looking up from the game of chess he was playing with Theodore.

'Just seeing where I stand with the Gryffindors, which reminds me,' Damian said, looking at Draco. 'Can you make sure that the Slytherins leave Hermione, Neville and Luna alone, please?'

'I can do that, but why aren't the two Weasleys one that list or any other Gryffindor?'

'I don't care what they do to the Weasleys or any other Gryffindor. They're no friends of mine, except Neville, Hermione and Luna,' Damian growled.

'Thank goodness,' the three other Slytherins muttered. Damian raised an eyebrow.

'To be honest, Damian, every Slytherin in our grade have been waiting for you to figure out the truth,' Theodore said sadly. 'Whenever you weren't looking, they would have a look of satisfaction on their faces, except for Longbottom and Granger.'

'I feel like such an idiot,' Damian mumbled bitterly.

'Don't, you had no way of knowing when they did it behind your back, so to speak,' said Blaise. 'Anyway, Theo and I are going back to the common room, you two coming?'

'Nah, I was going to go for a walk down to the lake and sit there for a while,' replied Draco, rising from his seat.

'I'll join you,' Damian said quickly. 'I'll see you guys later.'

'Okay, see ya.'

'Hey, Damian, do you want to get together some time during the holidays?' Draco asked as they left the Hall.

'That would be wonderful,' Damian said. 'I'll talk to my D-Voldemort about it, but I'm sure he'll be all right about it as long as we follow any rules he gives us - uff.'

Damian had just walked into someone and fell flat on his bum.

'Sorry,' Damian said quickly, 'I didn't mean to…' Damian trailed off with a gasp.

Standing above him was Dumbledore, Moody and Remus.

'That's alright,' replied Remus. Apparently he was the one Damian walked into. 'I should have been paying more attention to my surroundings as well.'

'Where are you two off to on this fine day?' Dumbledore asked Draco and Damian friendly.

'That is none of your business!' Damian snapped, while Draco's eyes narrowed with dislike.

'That is no way to speak to your elders, Riddle,' Moody growled.

'If you mean respect, then I should let you know that I don't respect those that haven't earned my respect or those that lied to me and made me fight my family!' Damian said with more venom in his voice than a snake has in its fangs. 'Come on, Draco. Let's go. See you, Remus,' he added as they walked off, well, Damian stormed off and Draco practically ran to keep up.

**-THE TRUTH REVEALED-**

At five to ten, Damian was in the Chamber of Secrets walking over to Sanaro who was already there waiting.

'How did it go?' Sanaro asked, putting down the book he was reading.

'Well, I'm still friends with Neville, Hermione and Luna, but the others think of me now as "the son of a monster",' Damian said sitting down next to Sanaro.

'Does that mean that you and Ginny Weasley have split up?' Sanaro asked hopefully.

Damian nodded.

'Thank goodness,' Sanaro said, surprising Damian. 'I'm glad that I won't have her as a sister-in-law. It's bad enough having her in class.'

Damian couldn't help it, he just burst out laughing and Sanaro shortly joined him.

'Good to see the two of you getting along,' said a quiet voice.

Damian jumped and turned around to see his father and mother walking towards them.

'Hi, Voldemort, Nagini,' he greeted. Voldemort gave his son a look, while Nagini made a sad noise at the way their son addressed them. 'I took your advice, by the way, and discovered that I'm still friends with Hermione, Luna and Neville.'

'You found that out fast,' Nagini commented. 'What did you do, ambush them at breakfast?'

'No, if I did that then I would have had Dumbledore down on me, so instead I waited in their common room.'

'Yeah, the little brat decided to wake me up at five-thirty this morning asking me how to get in there,' Sanaro said glaring at Damian, who trying to act innocent.

'You were actually able to get him up at that time of morning,' Voldemort said in disbelief.

Damian laughed while Sanaro glared at their father.

'Anyway, you know the reason why we are here today,' continued Voldemort. 'We are here to teach you how to defend yourself against Dumbledore.'

'Speaking of Dumbledore; Draco and I kind of ran into him, Moody and Remus when we were heading out to the lake,' said Damian.

'Did he speak to you?' Voldemort asked quickly.

'Yes, he asked where we were going in the annoying grandfather voice. I think it was one of his attempts to try and gain my trust or he was hoping that he might get an opportunity to kidnap me again.'

'It probably was. For now on try and have at least one person with you at all times, just to be safe.'

'Yes sir.'

'Now, the first thing we'll be teaching you is Occlumency. I take it that you are familiar with this term?' said Voldemort.

'Um, yes. Are you sure that you want to teach me it today? Wouldn't you prefer to teach me something easier? 'Cause I suck at it. Even ask Sanaro. When he tried to teach me it we got nowhere - why are you guys looking guilty?'

'Damian, the only reason why you sucked at it is because I told Sanaro to make it easier for me to access your mind,' Voldemort said apologetically. 'But this time you will be able to close your mind.'

With that said, Voldemort and Sanaro taught Damian how to control his emotions and clear his mind. By lunch, he had a good hang of Occlumency, which surprised his family on how quickly he picked it up.

'I guess we really shouldn't be so surprised that you were able to learn this so quickly,' Sanaro said as he and Damian left the Chamber so Dumbledore wouldn't get suspicious of their absence at lunch.

'And why's that?' asked Damian.

'You were able to throw of the Imperious Curse at the age of fourteen, which has similar elements as Occlumency,' Sanaro replied, before adding, 'And it probably helps that you are unusually powerful for your age.'

Damian didn't say anything. He knew that he could perform advance magic, but for some reason, he never thought as himself as a power wizard.

'So, what are you plans for the rest of the day?' Sanaro asked his brother as they arrived back in Sanaro's chambers. There was a secret passage in there that led from his quarters to the Chamber.

'I'll probably hangout with Draco and my other friends. Maybe play some Quidditch,' Damian answered as they walked to the Great Hall together.

'Sounds good, but speaking of Quidditch, when you were in the Gryffindor common room the Slytherin Quidditch team came and spoke to me,' Sanaro said conversationally.

''Bout what?' Damian asked curiously. Draco never said anything about seeing Sanaro.

'Draco has resigned from the Slytherin Quidditch team...' Sanaro said, looking down at Damian to see his reaction.

'What? Why did he do that? He loves Quidditch as much as I do!' exclaimed Damian.

'If you had let me finish, I was only going to say that he has resigned from the Slytherin Quidditch team as their Seeker. Its Urquhart last year and he gathered the whole team this morning to talk about our team next year. They are leaving the Seeker post open for you, if you are interested?' Sanaro concluded, happy to see the smile that was slowly spreading across Damian's face.

'They want me on their team?' Damian said eagerly.

'Yes. They know that you are the best man for the job. Urquhart also has suggested for you to be Slytherin's Quidditch Captain next year too. After seeing the Gryffindor team you put together this year, he knows that you will do an excellent job and your future team mates agree with that choice.'

'So I'm going to be Slytherin's Seeker and Quidditch captain next year?' Damian said in disbelief.

'Didn't I just say that you were?'

'Yes, but... wow. Hang on, what's Draco playing then?'

'Draco will take Urquhart's place as a Chaser. And I expect you to give us a winning team next year!' Sanaro added sternly. 'It will make up for all the times you stole the Cup away from Slytherin!'

'No problem with that!' Damian laughed. 'I'll make sure...'

Whatever he was going to make sure of was left unknown, for as the two brothers arrived at the Entrance Hall, they heard yelling and it sounded as though a duel was taking place inside the Great Hall.

Sanaro quickly took out his wand and rushed inside. Damian followed a little more slowly so it wouldn't look like they arrived together. When Damian did enter though, he got a huge surprise. Gryffindors table looked as though a bomb had hit it. It was on fire and many of the Gryffindor students were covered in food, but what got Damian's attention had nothing to do with the burning table. Standing in the isle between the Gryffindor and Slytherin tables was Ron, Dean, Seamus, Parvati and Lavender with their wands out and they were yelling at Neville, Draco, Blaise and Theo, who also had their wands out and were yelling back at them. Behind the three Slytherins and Neville, was a crying Hermione, with Pansy and Daphne Greengrass next to her.

There were no teachers in sight, so it was all up to Sanaro, who raised his wand and a loud band exploded from it. That got everyone's attention.

'What is going on here?' demanded Sanaro, with his black eyes getting a slight redness to them. 'Draco? I expected more from you! So tell me exactly what happened!'

Draco didn't answer; instead he just continued to glare at Ron.

'As Draco, Blaise, Theo, Pansy and I walked into the Hall, we heard and saw Hermione having a heated argument with the other Gryffindors, minus Longbottom, and eventually the others turned their wands on Hermione so we got up and helped her,' Daphne answered bluntly instead.

'Right,' Sanaro said furiously as Damian walked over to Hermione and knelt down next to her, drawing her into a hug. 'Weasley, Thomas, Brown, Patil and Finnigan, you have lost fifty points each from Gryffindor, and will all serve detention with either Mr Filch or myself for a week!'

'What? That's not fair! What about the Slytherins?' Ron argued.

'They're not the ones who started it,' Sanaro said coldly.

Damian thought that it was a stupid question to be asked, especially to Sanaro. He would always take Slytherins side, unless he had a very good reason not to.

'Now, I suggest you run along before I take away more points!' snapped Sanaro, before putting out the fire that was spreading along the Gryffindor table. 'Where are the other teachers?' he added after a while, ignoring the fact that the Gryffindors hadn't moved.

'None of them have turned up yet,' Neville answered nervously.

'That's odd...'

'Severus, there you are!' Dumbledore said cheerfully, walking into the Hall. 'We've been looking for you everywhere! Where have you... what happened in here?' he added, looking at the Gryffindor table.

'And why has the Gryffindor hourglass lost two hundred and fifty points?' McGonagall added as she walked into the Hall.

'Professor Snape took the points off us!' Ron said quickly. 'We were duelling with Longbottom, Granger and the other Slytherins, but he only took points off us and gave us detention for the rest of the week.'

'Really, Severus. I agree that their actions were wrong but to take points of just the five of them isn't fair. As a result, Mr Longbottom, Miss Granger, Mr Malfoy, Mr Nott, Mr Zabini, Miss Parkinson, Miss Greengrass and Mr Riddle will also lose fifty points each and they will all serve detention with Hagrid in the Forbidden Forest tomorrow night!' Dumbledore said calmly.

'Why is Damian getting punished? He wasn't even here when it happened!' Draco said angrily.

'Is this true, Severus?' Dumbledore asked.

'Yes. Mr Riddle had been with me this morning discussing he's ideas for the Slytherin Quidditch team next year,' Sanaro answered stiffly.

'Very well, Mr Riddle shall receive no punishment. Come now, Severus. We have a staff meeting,' Dumbledore said, before walking out with McGonagall, followed unwillingly by Sanaro.

The Hall was still for a moment, before Ron and his friends stormed out of the Hall.

'Come on, let's get out of here,' Damian muttered to his friends, helping Hermione to her feet. Together, they all left the Hall, and went and sat down by the Lake. Once they were all comfortable, Damian turned to Neville. 'What was that all about?'

'We were still arguing about you,' Neville shrugged simply.

'Sorry,' said Damian. 'I didn't want you two to go through that.'

'We had it coming. At least it was only into the Forest with Hagrid,' Hermione said quietly.

'Hmm, I'll take Filch any day,' muttered Draco, think of the last time he went in there.

'Don't worry, Draco. Hermione will protect you!' Damian joked.

'Ha ha ha. Funny.'

'I thought it was,' Damian said, before asking, 'Why were you five sticking up for Hermione and Neville anyway? Not that I'm complaining.'

'You're friends with them and we have no grudge against them, so we decided to help,' Pansy shrugged.

'Damian, there's something you should know,' Hermione said quietly. 'The Gryffindors are planning on doing something to you, but Neville and I don't know what.'

'In that case, I'll have to watch my back,' Damian muttered darkly.

For the rest of the afternoon the six Slytherins and two Gryffindors sat by the lake talking and laughing, and eventually Luna joined their group.

However their happiness didn't last for Hermione asked Damian why he hated Dumbledore all of a sudden, and once Damian had finished explaining, the nine friends swore that they would stand together and fight Dumbledore in order to bring peace to the wizarding world.

* * *

**Azaelia Silmarwen facebook page:** link on profile  
**Written:** 12 July 2011  
**Updated:** **  
Beta:**

**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT CLAIM OWNERSHIP OVER THE ORIGINAL COPYRIGHTED MATERIAL IN THIS STORY. THIS IS A NON-PROFIT FANDUB CREATED BY FANS, FOR FANS. NO COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT INTENDED, FAIR USE ONLY.**


	5. Chapter 5

**CHAPTER FIVE**

The next few days passed without any dramas, and another school year was about to end. During this time, Damian's lessons had become more bearable, seeing as he had at least one friend in every one of his classes. This meant he was able to follow his father's wishes by having at least one person with him at all times. It was lucky that he did have his friends around him, for a few Gryffindors had tried to curse him when his back was turn, and luckily, being the Heir of Slytherin, Hogwarts always put up an invisible barrier, so the spells did him no harm, but that couldn't be said for those that tried to curse him seeing as Hogwarts sent the curse back at them. Apart from being the most hated person in the school, as well as the most feared, Damian felt like any other sixteen year old teenage boy. He sat through his lessons like anyone else his age, hung out with his friends like any other teenage boy, and he had a family that loved and treated him as an equal.

However, this did not last for Sanaro told him that Dumbledore had figured out a way to slowly get him to come back to the "light" side, but when Damian asked him how Dumbledore planned to do it, Sanaro shook his head sadly.

'I'm afraid I don't know. I've tried countless times on trying to get him to slip some small detail out, but it never works. The only people that know of what the actual plan is would be the old coot and whoever it is he has hirer to capture you,' Sanaro replied as he sat on his lounge with a wine glass in his hand.

'Have you told Voldemort?' Damian asked nervously.

'Yes. I went straight home when I found out what he was planning to do,' Sanaro replied. 'Don't worry though, he's not about to take you out of Hogwarts, but he does want you to be more careful and to stay in a big group of students. Father will probably tell you all this when you speak to him tonight. Come on, I'll walk you back to the Slytherin common room seeing as it is nearly curfew,' he added, when he saw what time it was.

Sanaro, of course, was right. When Damian spoke to Voldemort through the two-way mirror, Voldemort gave him some more rules to abide by, and just as Damian was about to say goodnight, Voldemort told his son to tell his trusted friends of what they had learnt, so Damian would remain safe.

Damian grudging did as he said and told his friends about Dumbledore's plan to capture him, even though they didn't know what the plan actually involved yet.

'Well, one of us is always with you, so that won't be a problem,' Hermione said briskly. 'But we'll have to keep a closer eye on you, just encase it is something sneaky!'

'But we're missing one thing, Hermione,' Draco said, with a thoughtful look on his face. 'Damian is the Heir of Slytherin, so his safe as long as he is in Hogwarts and Dumbledore knows that.'

'True, but that only stops people from physically attacking him and Apparating or portkeying out of Hogwarts. It doesn't however, stop his food and drink being spiked!' Hermione replied.

'I don't think we'll need to worry about Damian being poisoned or anything. The House-elves love him. That much was obvious when we went down there for dinner the other day. They would never put poison in his food or drink!' said Neville. 'And besides, he always checks his food and drink before consuming it.'

'True, but does Dumbledore know that?' asked Goyle.

'He might. Weasley walked passed as you were doing it the other day, and he might have noticed it,' Daphne said, bitting her bottom lip nervously.

'I doubt he would even know what Damian was doing,' Pansy said nastily.

'If only there was some way we knew what he was up to!' Blaise said angrily.

'Whatever his doing, he has kept it rather secret. Voldemort has countless spies trying to figure it out, but none of them has succeeded,' Damian said bitterly. 'It's no surprise though. Sanaro has spent nearly every waking hour trying to figure it out, and even he hasn't succeeded, and he's the best spy there is!'

'Then why don't we try?' Luna suggested.

'Try want?' Theo frowned in confusion.

'Why don't Hermione, Neville and I try to find out what has been happening? Maybe one of the other houses knows about what's going on,' explained Luna.

'Yeah, that is a good plan, just one problem. Every time we walk into the room, the stop talking! They're scared that whatever we hear them saying, we'll go and tell Damian,' said Neville.

'True, but if you and Hermione use my Invisibility Cloak, you'll be able to listen in without them ever knowing,' Damian said smirking.

'You still have that Cloak?' Hermione said in surprise.

'Why wouldn't I? The Potter's left everything to me,' Damian replied. 'I'll give you the cloak later on today,' he added as the bell rang to go to class, thankfully they all had Defence Against the Dark Arts.

From being Damian's most hated and worse subject this year, it had become his favourite subject. Sanaro was no longer picking on him or failing him on purpose, which made the subject rather enjoyable. It was especially enjoyable when he picked on the Gryffindors, though he "_mysteriously_" left Neville and Hermione alone.

When the group of friends (minus Luna) arrived at the class room, they saw that the Gryffindors were already there, and they didn't look to happy. Then again, they were never happy when it came to Snape being their teacher.

'And here comes the traitors,' Ron whispered loudly to Dean, who sniggered.

Damian and the others ignored him, and walked straight through the classroom door which had just opened.

Draco and Damian took their usual seats, with their friends sitting around them and gave Sanaro their utmost attention, compared to the Gryffindors who were all fidgeting, except for Neville and Hermione. Ever since Sanaro had stopped picking on Neville, he had become better at what he was doing and started to gain more confidence.

'This lesson we will be doing some revision...' began Sanaro before he was rudely interrupted, by Seamus.

'Why? We have already done our exams!' Seamus exclaimed.

'Regardless of the fact that you have already done your exams, you will need to remember this knowledge for life, and after flicking through your test papers, I could see that most of you didn't know what you were on about!' Sanaro snapped. 'As a result, you will be doing revision for every single lesson and for homework and even summer homework, for I will not tolerate laziness next year...'

'What do you mean? Next year we'll have a new Defence teacher!' Ron interrupted rudely. 'The jobs jinxed after all.'

'Five points from Gryffindor!' Sanaro snapped again. 'And for your information, Weasley, this job is not jinx! The only reason you had a new teacher every year was due to the fact that they weren't competent enough to keep their job! And anyone who wants to argue with me about it will lose another ten points from their house and will have detention with me cleaning out the school cauldrons, with no magic!' he added when he saw a number of students open their mouths to argue.

At the front of the class, Damian and Draco were in silent fits of laughter. Something Sanaro pointedly ignored.

By the end of the lesson, Gryffindor had lost a total of fifty points, and they practically ran from the class from when Sanaro dismissed them.

'You definitely know how to clear a room, sir!' Blaise said as he packed up his belongings.

Sanaro laughed quietly.

'I take after my father, that's why.'

_He got that right,_ thought Damian. Their father got definitely clear any room when he was angry.

'You better run along to your next class,' Sanaro added as they heard a group of giggling first years outside the classroom.

'We don't have another class until after lunch,' replied Damian. 'Professor Sprout cancelled our lesson today, 'cause she need to sort something out.'

'Then I hope you use your time wisely,' Sanaro replied, walking them to the door.

'Yes sir,' they all said.

Once they had turned the corner, Damian turned to Hermione and the others.

'I've got to go and get my _Potions book_, so I'll meet uses at the usually meeting spot,' Damian said, and they knew that he was really going to go and get his invisibility cloak.

'But we don't have Potions until after lunch,' Daphne said, playing along encase someone was listening in.

'True, but if I don't get it now, I'll probably forget it. I also want to read up on that potion that we're going to do today,' Damian replied.

'In that case, I'll go with you. I need to get some more ink anyway,' Draco said quickly.

'Okay, then we'll see you at the usual spot,' replied Hermione and they went their separate ways.

Twenty minutes later, Damian secretly handed over his invisibility cloak to Hermione. Once Hermione had the cloak, she excused herself from the others and went with Daphne and Pansy to look something up in the library. They wouldn't tell the boys what it was they were looking up. That left Damian, Draco, Blaise, and Theo sitting by themselves, for Crabbe and Goyle were in the kitchen eating, Neville was helping Professor Sprout and Luna was still in class. So the boys just lounged around talking about their last lesson, when a voice floated over to them.

'Why aren't you four in class?' asked McGonagall, catching sight of them.

'Professor Sprout cancelled her lesson today, Professor,' Damian replied politely.

'In that case, two of you can help me with these boxes.' She motioned to the boxes she had been carrying. 'Nott, Zabini. You come with me.'

Grumbling, Theo and Blaise said bye to Harry and Draco and unwillingly followed McGonagall back to the castle, carrying the boxes.

'Why didn't she just use magic to carry them? Or ask one of the house-elves to help her?' Draco wondered.

'Who knows? I'm just grateful she didn't ask me,' replied Damian, lying back down on the cold soft grass. 'I wonder what the girls are up to,' he added conversationally, before taking a sip of water from his drink bottle.

'No idea. I wonder if it has anything to do with -' Draco stopped abruptly.

'Draco?' Harry asked, looking up at his friend.

Draco was looking over at the castle, glaring slightly. Confused, Damian sat up and looked over at the castle and saw a red-haired girl coming towards them.

'What do you want, Weasley?' Draco asked, getting straight to the point.

'To talk to Damian, if that's alright with you,' Ginny replied calmly.

'And what is it you wanted to talk to me about?' Damian asked suspiciously.

'I actually wanted to talk to you privately,' Ginny said, looking pointedly at Draco.

'Whatever you have to say to me, you can say in front of Draco,' Damian said bluntly. Did she honestly think that he would be stupid enough to go off with her by himself, or that Draco would leave him?

'Fine… Damian I want to apologise for what I said and did when I found out that you were You-Know-Who's son. I also want to try and pick up where we left off,' Ginny said, looking Damian straight in the eyes.

'Really? What about Ron and the rest of your family?' Damian asked, raising an eyebrow.

'They can go and boil their heads if they can't see past what they expect to see. I want to be with you Damian! You're the first person that I have ever truly loved!' Ginny said gently.

Draco snorted, but Ginny ignored him and continued as though nothing had happened.

'Surely all those months we spent together means something to you!' she added.

'I'm sorry, Ginny, but I'm not buying this,' Damian said, before taking another sip of water. 'I'm... What was that noise?' he added as a thunderous bang sounded the peaceful landscape.

'I'm guessing it came from that bunch of first years!' Draco growled, catching sight of a group of first years playing with huge rocks. 'Where on earth did they get those rocks from? I'll be back,' he added as he got up to have ago at them.

But seconds later, Damian was running over to Draco. The first years thought it would be funny to send a rock at Draco, which resulted in him being hit in the head and knocked to the ground.

'Draco? Are you alright?' Damian asked urgently, helping Draco to his feet.

'Yes, but those first years won't be once I tell Professor Snape!' Draco growled as the first years ran away.

'Yes, but before you go and see him, I'm taking you to the Hospital Wing!' Damian said firmly.

'Damian, I don't need to go there.'

'Draco. You just got hit in the head with a huge rock! I'm surprise that you're able to stand up!'

'They didn't send it at me that hard, they - what are you still doing here?' Draco added grumpily, as they arrived back at their belongings to find Ginny still sitting there.

'I was waiting for Harry to come back,' Ginny answered.

'Well, you might as well go now, Ginny, for I've got to take Draco to the Hospital Wing,' Damian said as he gathered up their belongings.

'What about what I said?' Ginny asked.

'I'll get back to you on it,' replied Damian, before raising his drink to his lips once more.

'Damian, stop!' cried Draco.

'What? What's wrong?' Damian asked anxiously.

'There was something pink in your drink!'

Damian looked into his drink bottle, and Ginny stood up to join him.

'I don't see anything pink in there,' she commented, looking utterly confused.

'Neither do I,' said Damian. 'I think that rock hit you harder than you thought, Draco. Come on, I'm taking you to the Hospital Wing now.' He took another sip of his water, before putting it into his bag. 'I'll see you around Ginny,' he said over his shoulder as he led the grumbling Draco to the hospital wing.

When they arrived at the Hospital Wing, the first thing out of Madam Pomfrey's mouth was, 'What have you done this time, Damian?'

'I haven't done anything, but Draco got hit in the head with a huge rock,' Damian said, gently pushing Draco onto one of the beds.

'Oh. I thought that you had been doing something dangerous again,' Madam Pomfrey apologised.

It turned out that Draco did have a mild concussion, and Madam Pomfrey told him that he would have to stay in the hospital wing over night.

'If only you hadn't given Hermione the cloak,' Draco groaned, when he was lying comfortably on one of the hospital beds, and when Madam Pomfrey had gone back to her office.

'Why's that?' Damian asked, sitting down on the seat next to Draco's bed.

'How are you going to get to our next lesson? Your father said that you're not meant to be by yourself, and it's highly unlikely that our friends will find out about what happened in time.'

'I'll be fine, Draco... as long as my family doesn't find out about it,' Damian added as he got up when the bell went telling him to go to his final lesson, which happened to be Potions.

'But, Damian, what if you come across Dumbledore or Weaselette?' Draco said, sitting up.

'We know that they can't attack me, and please don't call Ginny that,' Damian said as he turned to leave, with Draco calling out after him.

Damian walked the noisy corridors, ignoring everyone who skirted around him or stopped and watched him. To be honest he actually didn't notice them, for he was lost in his own thoughts, and his thoughts were all about the conversation he had just had with Ginny. Did she really still have feelings for him? When he thought about it, he realised that she had been really sincere to him when they had been talking. She was open about her feelings, and he knew that by having Ron as a brother, he probably forced her to see him in a bad light. But then, did he still have feelings for her? Thinking back to all the time he spent with her that year, and back to the times they spent together as friends, he could say yes. He did care for her and he did love her. Maybe they could work this out after all.

'Mr Riddle!' someone yelled out angrily.

Damian froze. He was in trouble now! How could he have been so stupid? He definitely should have listened to Draco's advice.

Slowly, the youngest Riddle turned and faced his brother. To anyone else, Sanaro would look like he usually did, but Damian could see the growing rage in his eyes.

'I would like a word with you in my office now!' Sanaro said quietly.

'Now? Professor, I've got to get to my Potions lesson. Professor Slughorn won't be happy if I'm late,' Damian said, hoping that Sanaro would let him off the hook. He was not in luck.

'I'll explain everything to Professor Slughorn later. Now... my office!' said Sanaro, leading Damian towards his office. Damian had no choice but to follow.

The brothers walked in silence down to the dungeons and then to Sanaro's office. Once they arrived at their destination, Sanaro opened the door and motioned Damian to enter.

Damian dreadingly walked inside, and stood in the middle of the room staring into the dark, empty fireplace, waiting for his brother to erupt. Behind him, he heard the door lock, and Sanaro muttered a spell quietly under his breath to stop anybody hearing them, before he walked over to where Damian was standing and stood directly in front of him with his arms crossed.

After a few minutes of uncomfortable and tense silence, Sanaro finally spoke.

'Have you got a death wish?' Sanaro asked coldly. 'Why on earth were you walking the corridors alone, when Father specifically told you not to? Explain!'

'How else would I have gotten to class?' Damian replied, looking his brother straight in the eye. 'With Draco in the hospital wing and my other friends nowhere around, I had no other choice.'

'Why didn't you just wait with Draco? Or Apparated to Potions? Or even contact Father, who could have contacted me?' Sanaro demanded.

'One, Madam Pomfrey would have sent me out so Draco could get some rest, two, you should know better than anyone that you can Apparate inside Hogwarts, and three, I have no way of contacting Dad!' Damian replied angrily.

'You have definitely had too many Bludgers to the head,' Severus said grumpily, shaking his head. He didn't even notice what Damian had called Voldemort. 'Did you forget that one of your ancestors founded Hogwarts? As a result, you can get passed all the charms she has protecting her! And did you also forget about the connection you share with Father?'

Damian opened his mouth to argue back, but closed it once more. Sanaro was right. He had forgotten about being Slytherin's heir and about being able to contact their father when he wanted.

'Wait until Father hears about this...' Sanaro began, but Damian quickly interrupted him.

'You don't have to tell Dad and Mum, do you?' Harry pleaded. 'After all, this is just a once off and it will never happen again, I swear! Please, don't tell Mum and Dad! They'll take me out of Hogwarts!'

Damian and Sanaro stared at each other for a few minutes. Pleading emerald eyes met cold black ones, and in the end, the black ones looked away and Sanaro sighed.

'You promise that you'll never do it again?' Sanaro asked, his face softening.

Damian nodded desperately.

'As long as you don't do it, I see no problem in keeping this our little secret.' Sanaro sighed.

'Oh, thank you, Sanaro!' Harry cried.

'Hmm, just don't make me regret it. Come on, I'll walk you to your Potions lesson and explain to Slughorn why you were late,' Sanaro said, leading the way to Slughorn's classroom.

**-THE TRUTH REVEALED-**

That night, Damian had dinner with Sanaro in his private quarters. This was quite safe to do, seeing as Dumbledore had left the school for the night and he would not be back until lunch the next day.

Dinner went all right with the two brothers laughing and talking like brothers normally do, but when they retired to Sanaro's sitting room, things started to go downhill. Whilst in the middle of a game of chess, Sanaro asked Damian if he had seen any girls that had caught his fancy.

'Well, there is this one girl I've been thinking about lately,' Damian admitted.

'Really? And who might that be?' Sanaro asked as one of his knights' dragged Damian's remaining rook of the board.

'Ginny Weasley.'

Sanaro started laughing.

'Yeah, nice one, Damian! Now really, who have you been thinking about?'

'I wasn't joking, Sanaro.' Damian frowned slightly at his brother's reaction.

Sanaro's laughed stopped abruptly and was replaced with a look of horror.

'Y-you can be serious?' he gasped. 'You broke up with her! She hates you because of your heritage!'

'No, she doesn't,' Damian argued. 'She asked me earlier today if I would be willing to give our relationship another go. If you don't believe me, just asked Draco! He was there.'

'Wh-what did you tell her?' Sanaro asked nervously.

'I said that I'd think about it. I'm going to go and give our relationship another try,' Damian said, having finally made up his mind.

'I can't believe I'm hearing this!' Sanaro exclaimed with his eyes wide. 'Damian, can't you see that she was probably faking it to try and get your trust, making it easier for Dumbledore to get close to you!'

'I don't believe that for a minute!' Damian replied, eyes narrowing. 'I love her, Sanaro, and you can't stop me from feeling that way!' Damian then stood, knocking the chess board, before Apparating back to his dormitory, leaving a nervous Sanaro Riddle behind hoping that his little brother wouldn't do anything stupid.

'Damian, where did you come from?' Blaise exclaimed, falling off his bed when Damian suddenly appeared in the sixth year boys' dormitories, in a bad mood. 'And why weren't you at dinner? We were really worried about you!'

With a quick glance around the room, Damian saw that Theo, Gregory and Vincent were shocked at his sudden appearance as well.

'I was having dinner and spending the night with my brother,' Damian replied after a minute, 'and we had an argument of sorts.'

'What kind of argument?' Daphne asked from the dormitory doorway. Pansy was standing next to her, with a concerned look on her face.

'How long have you been there for?' Theo demanded, turning to face the two girls. 'And what have we told you two about knocking?'

Daphne ignored him and went and sat on Draco's empty bed.

'What did you have an argument about?' she asked Damian.

'Well, it wasn't exactly an argument, but the main point is that he doesn't agree with the girl I'm in love with,' Damian replied, looking for his pyjamas.

'And who is this girl?' Pansy asked, joining Daphne on Draco's bed.

'Ginny Weasley,' replied Damian, standing up, pyjamas in hand.

The six Slytherins stared at him, before laughing.

'Come on, Damian. Tell us the truth!' Blaise laughed, and he only stopped when he caught sight of Damian's face. 'You're serious? Well... I'm sorry, Harry, but I have to agree with your brother! You can do way better than the likes of her!'

Damian gave them the coldest look he could master before he stormed to the bathroom to have a shower. Why were they all saying that? Didn't his happiness matter to them at all? When he came back, he ignored the others, jumped into bed and pulled the curtains around his bed. He did not notice the uncomfortable and worried looks his friends exchanged.

The next morning, Damian was rudely awoken by Severus Snape, and he did not look happy. Sanaro had splashed freezing cold water all over the sleeping Damian. As a result, he awoke with a loud yelp and fell out of bed, waking the other boys.

'Damian, what's wrong?' Theo asked quickly, drawing back his own curtains. 'Professor Snape?' he added, when he caught sight of his Head of House.

'I'm sorry to wake you four boys but I have a message to give you Mr Riddle from your father,' Sanaro said, turning his attention back to the now moody Damian.

'Couldn't it have wait till I was up?' Damian demanded, getting off the floor.

'The Dark Lord orders you to contact him immediately, seeing as you didn't last night. Your father is most disappointed in you and warns you to contact him immediately or else!' Sanaro continued, ignoring Damian's question.

_Damian deserved it anyway,_ Sanaro thought. Pay back from Damian doing it to him the other day.

'Fine!' Damian grumbled, before grabbing clean clothes and heading back to the bathroom to get dried and warmed up.

However, Damian never did contact Voldemort. Instead he went off on his own to find Ginny. He soon found her sitting with her brother and a number of the other Gryffindor sixth and fifth years. Knowing that it wouldn't be wise just to walk up to them, Harry pulled out a piece of parchment and quickly wrote a note on it before folding it up to look like a white swan. Then he used a simple spell to make it fly over to Ginny. Standing in the shadows of the entrance, Damian watched as the swan flew over to Ginny and watched as she read it, with Ron trying to read it over her shoulder. He watched as Ginny got a happy smile to her face and she quickly folded up the letter with Ron pestering her to tell him what it was about. She ignored him and looked over to the entrance to the Hall to see Damian walking away into the shadows.

A few minutes later, Damian was sitting by the lake under the shade of a huge tree, waiting for Ginny to show up. He didn't need to wait long for a minute later he saw her walking towards him.

'Hi, Damian!' she said, greeting him cheerfully. 'You said on the note that you wanted to talk to me about something?' she added, sitting down next to him on the soft grass.

'Yes. Yesterday you asked me if I still had feelings for you and whether we would be able to pick up where we left off,' Damian began, turning to face Ginny.

'I take it you came to a conclusion,' she said slowly, wondering what Damian's answer would be.

'Yes I did. My feelings for you are just as strong as they were when we first started dating. So I believe we have a very good chance of picking up where we left off,' he added quietly, leaning in and kissing her gently on the lips, and they probably would have stayed like that for a while if it hadn't been for the bell telling them to go to their first lesson.

'I hate it when the bell does that,' Ginny sighed, pulling away slowly. 'Meet you here at lunch time?'

'Sure,' Damian replied before groaning. 'Argh, I forgot. I'll probably have my friends trailing me. You don't mind if they turn up to, do you?'

By the look on Ginny's face, she did mind.

'Why can't you ask them to do something else?' she asked, frowning slightly.

'Voldemort's a bit paranoid at the moment. He thinks that I'm going to be attacked if I'm alone. As a result, my friends stick around me to make sure that doesn't happen,' Damian replied, with a slight edge to his voice.

'In that case, I don't mind if your friends come. If it's to protect, then I don't mind if dozens of them come,' Ginny said as Damian helped her to her feet.

'I'll see you then,' Damian smiled as they went their separate ways; Damian to Charms, while Ginny went to Care of Magical Creatures.

**-THE TRUTH REVEALED-**

'Where have you been?' Hermione demanded the moment Damian walked up to her and Neville.

The Gryffindors all fell quiet to watch Damian getting in trouble with Hermione, with them sniggering every now and then.

'I've been by the lake. Why?' Damian asked, coming to a halt.

'Why? We've all been worried about you,' Neville replied quietly. 'You know that you're not meant to be by yourself.'

'Well you don't need to worry, seeing as I wasn't by myself,' Damian said, starting to get annoyed. Was it too much to ask to have some time to himself?

'Who were you with then?' Hermione asked, frowning slightly. 'The others were at the Slytherin table, except for Draco who was reporting the rock incident to Professor Snape.'

'I was with my girlfriend if you must know,' Damian whispered as they walked into the classroom, behind the chattering Gryffindors.

'Girlfriend?' Neville blinked. 'Since when have you had a girlfriend? You only broke up with Ginny Weasley a few weeks ago!'

'Obviously the others haven't told you yet,' Damian muttered, though he was gratefully that they hadn't said anything.

'Told us what?' Hermione asked suspiciously.

'That my girlfriend is Ginny.'

'WHAT?' Hermione yelled.

'Miss Granger, please re-frame from yelling in my class from and pay attention,' said an annoyed Professor Flitwick.

'Sorry, Professor,' Hermione said quickly, but she continued to look incredulously at Damian.

From that lesson onwards, Damian's friends tried to make him see sense. To try and show him that dating Ginny Weasley was a bad idea.

'Damian, please see reason!' Daphne begged. 'If you don't listen to us, at least listen to your brother! He was once a teenager as well, and I heard that Dumbledore had captured him once when he was younger too! What is Ginny is just acting under Dumbledore's orders?'

'How can you say that? She wasn't acting!' Damian replied angrily.

'What does your father and mother think of you dating her again?' Draco asked desperately. If he wouldn't listen to his friends or brother, maybe he would listen to his parents.

'How would I know?'

'Didn't you tell him this morning when you contacted him?' asked Blaise.

Damian didn't reply.

'You did contact him, didn't you?' asked Theo.

'I was busy doing other things,' came Damian's stiff reply.

'Damian,' Theo groaned. 'Did you forget the last part of that message? Did you forget about the "or else" bit?'

'I haven't forgotten anything. Besides, what's the worse he could do?'

'Maybe never letting you go to Hogwarts next year,' Daphne said as though she was talking to an idiot.

'Whatever,' Damian muttered, walking ahead of the group to get to Herbology.

When lunch time came, Damian led the group of friends to the lake, and sat down in the shade. They were sitting in the exact same spot that Harry met Ginny that morning.

'How come you wanted to sit here? Aren't you hungry?' asked Luna.

'No. Besides, I said that I would meet Ginny here,' Damian said, looking around to see if she was coming. 'What do you think of me dating her, Luna?' He hadn't asked her opinion yet, and he had a feeling that Luna would be on his side.

'I believe it is unwise to trust her again so soon,' Luna said, surprising everyone. They all thought that she would take Damian's side.

'Really? Do you know what I think? I think... oh, hi, Ginny!' said Damian, making his voice gentle once more, standing up to meet her.

The others glared at their visitor. They would find out what she really wanted.

'Sorry, I'm late,' Ginny apologised, before kissing Damian passionately.

'Oi! Not around us you don't!' snapped Pansy.

Damian turned and stared at them coldly, before taking Ginny's hand and walking away to the castle with his friends calling out behind him, but he didn't care. He wasn't breaking any rules! He was told that he wasn't meant to go off by himself, and he wasn't by himself.

'Sorry about that,' muttered Damian, as the couple walked through the castle, hand in hand.

'It's alright. I understand the reason behind their actions. I probably would act the same way. They care about you, Damian,' Ginny said lightly.

'I just wish that they would care a little less - Them and my family!' Damian said, letting of some steam.

Ginny just squeezed his hand.

After walking around for a bit, they found themselves in an empty corridor. Seeing nobody around, Ginny lent up against a wall and kissed Harry passionately. Unfortunately for them, Ron Weasley and a few other Gryffindors decided to turn up.

'I think we'll have a good chance next year to win the Quidditch Cup. I have a great strategy to... WHAT THEY BLOODY HELL DO YOU THINK YOU ARE DOING TO MY SISTER, RIDDLE?' Ron roared, catching sight of them.

'Kissing, what do you think?' Damian replied, stating the obvious.

Ron didn't find it funny. In fact, it enraged him even more. Ron quickly walked forward and grabbed Damian by the front of his robe and slammed him up against the wall.

'I'll teach you,' he growled, reaching for his wand.

'Weasley! Let go of Mr Riddle this instance!' yelled one of the figures walking up the corridor.

Ron ignored him and started to say a curse when he was suddenly throw back into the opposite wall.

'What the... Ginny? Why'd you do that for?' Ron asked.

''Cause I don't appreciate you trying to curse my boyfriend!' Ginny yelled at her brother.

Ron was about to open his mouth to no doubt have ago at her, when the two figures came to a halt next to them. Those two figures were Draco and Severus Snape.

'Let's see, ten points from every Gryffindor in this corridor, and if you don't move on now, I'll make it fifty!' Sanaro said in a deadly whisper.

Grumbling, the Gryffindors walked off, throwing dirty looks back at Damian. Ginny remained behind.

'Why did Ginny get points taken off her?' Damian demanded. 'She didn't even do anything wrong!'

Sanaro just stared at him for a moment, before turning to Draco.

'You better go and get ready for your next class, Draco.'

'Yes, sir,' replied Draco, and he walked away, only pausing briefly at the end of the corridor to send a worried look back at Damian.

'You better get to class too, Miss Weasley. As for you Mr Riddle, I would like to see you in my office immediately,' Sanaro said, before turning around to head to his office.

'No,' Damian said stubbornly.

Sanaro stopped and turned to face Damian.

'What do you mean "no"?'

'Exactly like the definition states. Come on, Ginny,' added Damian, taking her hand and leading her away from his shocked brother.

He ended up leading her all the way to the Room of Requirements. They ended up spending the rest of the day there, and when curfew arrived. Harry went straight to bed without talking to any of his friends.

It was then that Damian got into a daily routine. Every morning he would wake up early and meet Ginny by the lake. They would have breakfast by the lake before going to their next class. Once that class was finished, they would meet up again for morning tea, then again at lunch. Then, after their finial class, they would meet in the Room of Requirements, and stay there until curfew. During this time, Damian made sure to avoid his brother at all costs, which only made Severus even madder. On top of that, he no longer spoke to his father, which made his parents furious and worried at the same time.

Finally, Sanaro managed to corner his little brother.

As Damian was walking in a deserted corridor, by himself, to meet Ginny, Sanaro stepped out and grabbed Damian from behind, Apparating him to his private quarters.

'What that - was that completely necessary?' Damian snapped, looking up at Sanaro.

'Well, seeing as you have been avoiding me and Father, yes!' Sanaro retorted angrily. 'You are to meet us in the Chamber of Secrets at nine o'clock tomorrow morning!'

'Sorry, I can't make it,' Damian said, before turning to leave.

Sanaro grabbed him by the arm.

'Let go of me!'

'That wasn't a request, Damian,' Sanaro snarled. 'What's so important anyway?'

'I'm meeting Ginny then,' replied Damian as he tried to get free from his brother's firm grip.

'Well you're going to have to cancel your date! You _will_ be there at nine tomorrow!'

'Okay, okay. Now will you let me go?' Damian asked in defeat.

**-THE TRUTH REVEALED-**

Saturday morning, Damian did as Sanaro said and met his family down in the Chamber at exactly nine o'clock and he didn't like the looks his family was wearing. Sanaro's face was just looked angry, Nagini, well, he guessed that his mother was angry the way she was sitting, but his father... Voldemort's eyes were red, and he looked ready to kill. Maybe it hadn't been a good idea to ignore his family.

'Oh, so you actually decided to grace us with your presence!' Voldemort said sarcastically. 'Sit - down - now!' he added dangerously, pointing to a seat in the middle of the Chamber.

Damian obeyed. He didn't think it would be a good idea to test his father's patience.

'For weeks, you have not contacted me in anyway. For weeks, you have been avoiding your brother. For weeks you have abandoned your friends so you could spend time with a - with a - with someone like that like brat you have been "dating"!' Voldemort yelled. 'Do you have any idea how worried we've been? Did you even stop to think of the consequences?' Voldemort paused, waiting for Damian to answer, and when he didn't he yelled, 'Answer me, Damian!'

'No,' Damian mumbled.

'No, of course you didn't. Your mother and I have talked about it and have decided that you are never to see this girl again and after this year, you are never coming back to Hogwarts!' Voldemort continued.

'What? You can't do that!' Damian said, losing his temper.

'Don't you take that tone with me! As your father I have every right!' yelled Voldemort. 'And, if you would remember, we agreed to let you go back to Hogwarts if you obeyed the rules we gave you and you didn't!'

'What if I prove to you that Ginny means me no harm, and I follow your rules again?' Damian asked desperately.

'We are not willing to take that risk, Damian,' Nagini said, staring holes into her son.

'I think he should be given the chance,' muttered Sanaro.

'What makes you say that?' Voldemort asked sharply.

'The female Weasley did stick up for him the other day, and it wouldn't be fair to take him out of Hogwarts. After all, all three of us got our education here,' Sanaro said calmly.

'Fine. Here's the deal, Damian. You obey the rules and be good for the rest of the year, then I'll consider sending you back here next year. However, if you put one toe out of line, you will be home schooled! Do you understand?'

'Yes.'

As a result, Damian grudgingly obeyed the rules by sticking with his friends, contacting his father every night, and everything else he had to do, but it didn't stop him from seeing Ginny. His parents didn't have a problem with it (to a certain extent) as long as he was around his other friends when he saw her, and he didn't tell her anything he shouldn't.

* * *

**Azaelia Silmarwen facebook page:** link on profile  
**Written:** 14 July 2011  
**Updated:  
Beta:**

**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT CLAIM OWNERSHIP OVER THE ORIGINAL COPYRIGHTED MATERIAL IN THIS STORY. THIS IS A NON-PROFIT FANDUB CREATED BY FANS, FOR FANS. NO COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT INTENDED, FAIR USE ONLY.**


	6. Chapter 6

**CHAPTER SIX**

The rest of term went by without any dramas. Damian would have dinner with his brother on a Wednesday night seeing as Dumbledore was always away on business then. Every day Damian would remain with his friends and much to their dismay, Ginny and Harry seemed to be glued at the hip. Every time neither of them was in class they would walk around hand in hand. Ginny would eat with him at the Slytherin table and would sit by the lake with Damian and his friends.

However there was one incident that happened. A hadhayosh, a creature that resembles an ox with skin that looked like polished brass, a mane of pure flames and six horns on its head and a number of others on its tail, somehow managed to get into the school. How it got into the school was unknown, though many students suspected that Hagrid might have had something to do with it, though Sanaro, Voldemort and Nagini all say that it was Dumbledore. Wondering how they came to this conclusion? Well, when the hadhayosh came in, it went straight for Damian, luckily, Sanaro saw it heading for him and pushed him out of the way. Unfortunately, it resulted with Sanaro being hurt. One of the hadhayosh's horns ended up piercing his left cheek. One thing that should be known about the hadhayosh is that their horns contain a deadly poison, except that of a baby hadhayosh. In this case, the hadhayosh was a baby, which meant that Sanaro was in no danger, though it did mean that he would have to let the wound heal naturally.

Eventually, the school year finished and Damian managed to convince his parents into letting him travel back to platform nine and three quarters like everyone else. They eventually gave in when Damian reminded them that he still had the emergency Portkey and that he would be with Draco and the others at all times, but he didn't mention that Ginny would be there as well, though he had a feeling that they already knew. He still didn't understand what they had against her. They accepted Hermione and Neville, so why not Ginny? He knew that he wasn't under a love potion. After all, he wasn't acting the way Ron did when he accidently ate the Cauldron cakes that were full of love potion. Damian just wished his family and friends would give Ginny a break.

However, it turned out that Damian's parents and Ginny's parents had something in common. Either of them like whom their child was dating. That much was obvious when Mr and Mrs Weasley saw Damian and Ginny get off the train hand and hand, and when they kissed each other good bye. According to Draco, Mrs Weasley had a look of horror on her face and had clutched her heart, whereas Mr Weasley looked highly worried and very suspicious.

'Did I just see you kissing a Weasley?' was Lucius' greeting to Damian and Draco as when they walked over to Lucius and Narcissa.

'Yes, didn't my father or Sanaro tell you that Ginny and I are dating?' Damian asked.

'No. Come on, we're Apparating straight to Ancalime,' Lucius said, taking Damian by the hand while Narcissa did the same for Draco.

The Malfoys and Damian arrived in the main hall and the moment Damian stepped away from Lucius, he was attacked by something big, and it was determined to crush him to death.

'Please let go of me, Nagini! You're hugging me too tight! I can't breathe!' Damian choked, trying to get free from Nagini deadly hug.

'Oh, sorry dear! I'm just so thrilled that you made it home safely!' Nagini said, loosening her grip.

Damian just awkwardly hugged her back. It was very weird to hug a snake.

Damian spent the first few weeks of the summer holidays helping Sanaro with his potions - he had become very good at it - and spending time with Draco playing Quidditch, doing their summer homework, and everything else teenage wizards boys do during the holidays. Then one night over dinner, Draco brought up Damian's seventeenth birthday.

'Hey, Damian, what are you doing for your birthday this year?' Draco asked, before taking a drink.

'What do you mean?' Damian asked.

'What do you think I mean? How are you going to celebrate it?'

'Yes, Damian? Would you like to invite your friends over?' Nagini asked.

'Can I invite any of my friends over?' Damian asked eagerly.

'Sure, why not?' Voldemort replied carelessly. After all, Damian did say "friends".

'So I can invite Blaise, Theo, Greg, Vince, Pansy, Daphne and, obviously, Draco over?' Damian asked innocently.

'Yep.'

'What about Neville, Luna, Hermione and Ginny?'

'Sur - no, I refuse to have the Weasley here!' Voldemort said, realising what Damian had just tried to pull on him.

'Why not?' Damian demanded.

'Damian, I don't trust her! I -'

'I think that she should be allowed to come over, Father,' Sanaro intervened calmly.

Everyone turned to stare at him. They all thought that he had lost his mind, except for Damian who was thrilled to finally have found an ally.

'After all, it will give us a chance to meet her and find out everything about her,' Sanaro continued on calmly, sending his father a secret message. If Ginny came over, they would find out if she really did love Damian or if she was using him.

'Good point, Sanaro. Alright, you can invite them all over,' Voldemort said in defeat.

'Thank you.' Damian and Draco then got up and left.

'I can't believe you are letting that relationship go on!' Lucius said, once he was sure Damian was out of hearing range. 'It is clear that he is under a love potion!'

'What makes you say that, Lucius?' Voldemort questioned.

'I was talking to Draco last night, about Damian's relationship with the brat, and how they ended up getting back together. Draco told me that Weasley made the first move by coming over to the boys and asking Damian about the relationship they had and if he wanted to continue it. Apparently Damian wasn't too keen on it, and he wasn't convinced with what Ginny was saying. Then Draco went off to deal with some first years and Harry came over to help when he got hit with a rock. They went back to where they left their belongings and Weasley was still there. As they were about to leave, Damian was about to take a drink of water when Draco noticed something pink in it, though no one else did. Draco just thought it was his concussion, but after that in counter he started to notice that Harry began to act differently.'

'Then Damian might have been under love potion at one stage,' Sanaro murmured thoughtfully.

'What do you mean "at one stage"?' asked Narcissa.

'When Damian _finally_ started to visit me for dinner again, I slipped an antidote into his food, knowing that he wouldn't check it for poison or anything. But the antidote didn't work, so I know that he isn't under any love potions.'

'Which leaves us back at stage one for his odd behaviour and feelings,' Voldemort muttered bitterly.

**-THE TRUTH REVEALED-**

Damian's birthday finally came around. That morning, his family let him sleep in until ten o'clock and when he awoke, a house-elf appeared and gave him breakfast in bed; scrambled eggs, toast, bacon, and sausages.

At eleven, his friends started to turn up for the day. Draco, of course, was the first to arrive along with Narcissa and Lucius. They were shortly followed by Daphne and Pansy, who were then followed by Hermione, Luna and Neville. Theodore and Blaise came five minutes after that, followed by Gregory and Vincent, leaving Ginny the last one to turn up.

'I thought that you were going to show up,' Damian said as he stepped forward to meet her.

'I nearly wasn't. Mum and Dad said that I wasn't allowed to come, but I managed to convince Fred and George to cover for me so I could come here,' Ginny replied, before giving him a deep happy birthday kiss.

'Happy birthday,' she breathed, afterwards.

'Thanks,' Damian muttered. He didn't notice Sanaro pretending to be sick in the background, but the others did.

Draco started laughing, while the others just stared uncertainly at Sanaro. They found it funny, but would he react negatively if they did start laughing? After all, they didn't know him.

'What's so funny, Draco?' Damian asked, turning around to face his best friend.

Draco was saved from answering, for Sanaro just told them that they might as well come into the lounge room, so Damian could unwrap his presents.

'Oh, and maybe you could introduce us as well, Damian,' Nagini added, when everyone was seated.

'Good point. Okay, this is Blaise, Theo, Greg, Vince, Hermione, Neville, Daphne, Pansy and Ginny. Guys, this is my father, mother - yes, she is a snake at the moment - and my brother, Sanaro.'

He then glanced over at his brother who was absently rubbing the spot where the hadhayosh had got him. It was slowly, but surely, healing.

'I've been meaning to ask you, Sanaro; what happened to your face?' Lucius asked.

'A baby hadhayosh got me,' Sanaro replied.

'What a coincidence! Professor Snape got attacked by baby hadhayosh too!' said Hermione, before frowning slightly. 'In fact, he has the exact same cut on his face.'

'That is a coincidence,' agreed Sanaro. 'Now, enough with this talk; let's see what my baby brother got for his seventeenth birthday.'

'Yeah, open my present first, Damian!' Theodore said eagerly.

'Hey, why should you go first?' Pansy asked teasingly.

Shaking his head, Damian accepted Theodore's present.

'I knew that you didn't have any wizard music, so a got a whole bunch of different artists, hoping that you would like at least one of them,' commented Theodore, when Damian frowned in confusion with the names of the different artists.

'Thanks, Theo!' Damian said, looking up grinning, before accepting a gift from Pansy. It turned out that Pansy and Theodore had worked together getting many different artists for Damian to listen to.

'Mine next!' Blaise said enthusiastically.

'Oh wow, thanks, Blaise!' Harry said, as he settled down his new chess set.

'I noticed that yours was sort of falling apart,' Blaise shrugged.

Damian opened Neville's present next, which turned out to be a Puddlemere United jersey.

When Damian got to Hermione's, he looked down at it warily.

'It's not another talking diary is it?' asked Damian, earning confused looks from the other Slytherins and adults in the room.

Hermione laughed.

'No, don't worry.'

Damian then unwrapped it and saw that Hermione had gotten him more stock for his broom kit.

'Thanks, Hermione!'

Gregory's and Vincent's presents were next and they had both given Damian a trunk full of sweets.

Luna had given him something he still didn't understand. Apparently it was from a creature he had never heard of which was meant to bring good luck.

Daphne's present was next and she had given him a beautiful book set on magical artefacts.

'Thanks, Daphne! I'll enjoy reading these!' Damian said, smiling over at her.

'What? You read?' Sanaro said from the couch, looking at Damian in disbelief.

'Hey! I do read! I read all my text books before I go back to Hogwarts! I just don't remember what I have read!' Damian said, rolling up some wrapping paper and throwing it at Sanaro, who caught it easily, laughing.

'Here you go, Damian. Sorry it's not like everyone else's,' Ginny muttered, going red.

Damian knew it was because the Weasley's didn't have that sort of money.

Damian opened it and saw that it was a bright red photo frame. Inside was a moving picture of Damian and Ginny by the Lake. It had been taken when they first started going out.

'I love it! Thank you, love!' Damian said, leaning over to her and giving her a quick kiss.

'This present is from the three of us,' Narcissa said, handing Damian.

Damian accepted it and he swore that he could hear something moving inside.

Damian cautiously looked inside and saw a small beautiful glossy black snake.

'Oh wow! You're beautiful!' Damian said in Parseltongue.

The snake looked up at him.

'You speak my language?' the snake asked with an accent.

Damian nodded and reached in picking the small snake up. The snake wrapped itself around Damian's wrist. Ginny moved slightly away from Damian. She didn't like the look of the snake.

'She's a Fierce Snake or otherwise known as the Inland Taipan,' explained Lucius. 'She's one of the most deadly snakes in the world.'

'Yeah, that makes sense to give someone a deadly snake,' Ginny said faintly.

'She won't hurt you,' Damian told her reassuringly, before turning back to Lucius. 'Where's she from? She speaks with an accent.'

'We got her from Australia, so make sure to keep her warm! She's found out in the outback and she won't like the cold here!' Lucius replied. 'Oh, she's also a baby, so expect her to get anywhere between one point eight and two point five metres in length.'

'What is your name?' Damian asked the Taipan.

'Alinga… it means the sun,' she hissed back.

'I'm Damian,' he told her, before turning to her confused friends. 'Her name is Alinga.'

'What a pretty name,' Daphne said, looking closely at Alinga.

Damian handed Alinga over to Daphne. Hesitantly, Daphne accepted her, and sat there stroking her snakes gently. Alinga hissed pleasantly.

'Now you can open our presents,' said Nagini, and Sanaro quickly translated for everyone.

From his parents, Damian got clothes, seeing as he was still in Dudley's old clothes, books, mobile phone and camera (they had added a few improvements to the devices so they would work in both the magical world and Muggle world).

'Thanks.'

'And this is from me, squirt.' Sanaro handed Damian a heavy present.

Damian glanced curiously at his brother before unwrapping it.

'I should have known that you would have given me potion ingredients,' he said looking down at the box. 'Only a potions master would – wow, Sanaro! Thank you!' Damian cried as he saw that his brother had tricked him. Inside the potions box wasn't potion ingredients. In fact, it had nothing to do with potions. Inside was a complete set of Defence and Dark Arts books.

'I'm glad you like them. See... a potions master, like me, can buy presents that have nothing to do with potions.' Sanaro laughed, before quickly jumping to his feet. 'That reminds me, I've got to go and quickly check a potion. Be back in a minute!' he added over his shoulder as he left the room.

'I didn't realise that he started a potion lately,' Voldemort frowned. 'He told me that he wouldn't start any potions that would need tending to on Damian's birthday.'

'It's Sanaro, what would you expect?' Nagini asked her husband.

'True.'

'Hey, Damian, Alinga's fallen asleep,' Daphne said softly, looking down at the sleeping serpent.

'She has too!' Damian said, getting up and sitting next to Daphne, looking down at his little Alinga. 'She must like you!'

'That or she thinks I'm nice and warm!' Daphne laughed gently.

At that moment, a House-elf appeared and told them that lunch was ready, before disappearing to go and tell Sanaro.

Damian's birthday lunch was marvellous, but he hadn't expected anything less. The house-elves had taken a liking to Damian and they were even better cooks then the ones at Hogwarts.

Half way through lunch, Sanaro arrived.

'You took your time,' Nagini said disapprovingly.

'What have you got in your hand, Sanaro?' asked Lucius.

'Another present for Damian, if he wants it now,' replied Sanaro.

'What is it?' Damian asked.

'The potion to change you back to what you really look like.'

'Yes! I'll take it now!' Damian said eagerly, hopping up.

'It might be best if you take it in your room, just in case,' muttered Sanaro.

'What do you mean, "Just in case"?' Damian asked suspiciously.

'Well, just in case your clothes become too big or something. I don't think you want to lose your pants in front of your friends!'

Damian's friends sniggered a bit.

'Hmm, good idea. Come on then, let's go.' Damian dragged his brother from the room. 'We'll be back!' he added.

'I can't wait to see what Damian really looks like!' Daphne said excitedly.

'Tell me about it. Luckily we get to see him now. Otherwise we probably wouldn't recognise him at school!' added Hermione.

'Can you imagine the reactions from the rest of the school?' Draco laughed.

'Hey, Weasley, what do you think of this?' Pansy asked, speaking to her for the first time. The friends had been ignoring her so far.

'I really couldn't care less about what Damian looks like! I like him for what he had on the inside!' Ginny replied coldly.

'I was only asking. No need to take that tone with me,' Pansy grumbled.

Fifteen minutes later, an ecstatic Sanaro Riddle walked into the room, before sitting down next to Lucius, and grabbing something to eat.

'Was it a success?' asked Voldemort.

'Why don't you see for yourself?' Sanaro replied, nodding over to the dining rooms doors, which had started to open again.

Everyone looked around to see a tall, handsome young man walk into the hall. He had longish midnight black hair, pale skin, gorgeous dark green eyes and in the middle of his forehead, was a lightning scar. Overall, he looked like a miniature version of Sanaro.

'Damian?' whispered Nagini.

'Who else would I be?' Damian replied cheekily.

'Yep, that's Damian alright!' Theodore laughed as Nagini and Voldemort both got up and walked over to their son. They could hardly believe their eyes.

Five minutes later, everyone had settled back down again, and cake was served.

'Remember, if you touch the bottom, you have to kiss the nearest girl!' Neville laughed as Damian started to cut the cake, but he soon wished he hadn't said anything when he realised the nearest girl was Ginny.

It was no surprise when Damian did touch the bottom, and started to kiss Ginny.

'You know what? I think I've just lost my appetite for cake,' Sanaro muttered. Out of all the girls at Hogwarts, he had to choose her. Why couldn't he have chosen someone like Daphne, Pansy or Hermione? Looking over at his parents, he knew that they were thinking the same think.

'Damian...' Nagini said warningly, when Damian and Ginny still hadn't unstuck their lips.

'Yes?' Damian asked, turning to face her.

'Not at the table.'

'Okay.'

After cake, they all made their way back to the living room.

The adults all sat around talking about politics and the Ministry while Damian and his friends were looking at his new things and talking about school.

Blaise and Theodore were playing a game of chess with Damian's new chess set, Hermione and Pansy were flicking through the book set that Daphne had given Damian, Daphne said there talking to Draco, Neville, Luna, Gregory and Vincent while still stroking Alinga, and Damian and Ginny were sitting on a couch, talking quietly together.

It turned out to be a peaceful afternoon, until Pansy gave a large gasp, which was followed shortly by Hermione.

'What's wrong?' Voldemort asked quickly, looking over at the two girls.

'It's just... there are two necklaces in this book. They are used to make someone fall in love with someone else.' Hermione explained.

'So?' asked Gregory, getting up to look at the necklaces she was talking about.

'So… it looks exactly like the necklaces Weasley and Harry have!' said Pansy.

'What?' Most of the room cried before looking at the book themselves.

'Is it true, Damian?' demanded Voldemort. 'Did she give you a necklace?'

'Yeah, Ginny gave it to me as a present from Hogsmeade, so we could talk to each other whenever. They have a two way mirror in them,' Damian replied, remembering back to when Ginny gave it to him, as he explained everything to his father.

_Damian_ _and his friends were sitting down by the lake in their usually spot when Ginny suddenly remembered something._

_'Oh __Damian__, I just remembered. Last Hogsmeade weekend, I found a way for us to keep in contact over the holidays and for whenever we want to talk to each other!' Ginny said happily, pulling something out of her pocket._

_'Having you ever heard of an owl?' Daphne asked cruelly._

_Ginny ignored her, but __Damian_ _gave her a very angry look._

_'This is it!' Ginny said, holding up two identical necklaces. They were both golden, and in the centre was a __rose quartz. _

_'I swear they look familiar,' Daphne said, looking at them closely. 'I know I have seen them before, but I can't remember where!'_

_'You probably saw them at Hogsmeade. After all, that's where I got them from,' Ginny replied coldly, before turning to __Damian__. 'Here, I'll show you how they work!'_

_Ginny put on one of necklaces' before putting the other around __Damian's_ _neck._

_'All you have to do is say my name into the necklace and I will appear in the middle,' Ginny explained._

_'Okay, Ginny Weasley,' __Damian_ _said, looking into the rose quartz of his necklace. Sure enough, Ginny's face appeared into it, and when he looked over to Ginny's he saw his owe face looking out of it._

_'Thank you, Ginny. I'll make sure that I'm always wearing it,' __Damian_ _said, leaning forward to kiss her._

_While __Damian_ _and Ginny were kissing, Hermione took out a book and hid her face, Neville, Blaise and Theo suddenly became very interested in their chess game, Gregory and Vincent put down the food that they were eating, looking a bit green, Pansy and Draco pretended to throw up, while Daphne just glared at Ginny._

'Show me it!' Voldemort demanded again, once Damian had finished telling what happened.

Damian pulled on one of the chains around his neck to reveal the necklace identical to the one in the book.

'Well, this changes everything,' Voldemort said, turning to face the now scared Ginny Weasley, before ripping the necklace off his son. As a result, Damian ended up collapsing. Nagini and Narcissa hurried over to him.

'Okay, Miss Weasley,' Severus began coldly, 'you better start talking.'

'Tell us why you put my son under a love charm and how you knew how to do it,' Voldemort added, with a red tinge to his eyes.

'Dumbledore told me to. I went and spoke to Riddle and when Malfoy wouldn't leave, the first years started to throw the rocks around - I had asked them to help if I couldn't get Riddle by himself - then when Malfoy left I was about to push on to get him in love with me, but he didn't seem interested. When Riddle left to help Malfoy, I saw a perfect opportunity to slip him a weak love potion so no one would be suspicious of why he was falling in love with me again. Every day I slipped him more and more love potion, but when I noticed that everyone was suspicious, I knew it wouldn't be safe to keep him under it so I went to Dumbledore and he gave me the necklaces,' Ginny replied, looking around for so escape.

'But what would Dumbledore gain by doing that?' asked Lucius.

'He was hoping that I would be able to lead Riddle back to the light and use him against _him_,' Ginny answered, nodding towards Voldemort.

'Thank you for answering that,' Voldemort said, drawing his wand, and pointing it at Ginny.

Ginny flinched and closed her eyes tightly, waiting for the man in front of her to claim her life, but it never came. Instead there was an amused chuckle and she felt her hands being bounded. Opening her eyes, she saw that Voldemort only bounded her hands, and he was now pocketing his wand. She looked at him with a bewildered stare.

Noticing this stare, Voldemort said, 'I don't kill the young. The only kid I tried to kill was my son and that was only for revenge. Sanaro, please escort Miss Weasley to the Order, and give them a message.'

'It would be my pleasure,' Sanaro replied before grabbing Ginny by the arm and Apparating away.

Sanaro Apparated straight to Grimmauld Place, and pulled Ginny roughly to number twelve, and walked confidently through the front door. He stood in the hallway listening and he could he voices coming from the kitchen, so he dragged Ginny down to the kitchen. The Order was still there having a meeting.

'... but how can you be sure, Albus? Riddle's not just going to come willingly back to our side!' argued one of the Order members.

'As I have said before, I have a plan that has been succeeding...' replied Dumbledore before he was interrupted.

'More like it has failed!' Sanaro snarled, dragging Ginny into the room in front of him.

Wands were quickly drawn.

'Ginny!' screamed Mrs Weasley. 'But how? How did he -'

'Your daughter unwisely came to my brother's birthday celebration,' snapped Sanaro, flinging a sobbing Ginny into one of the Order members. 'And you can take this back too, Dumbledore!' he added, throwing a golden necklace with a rose quartz in the middle at him. 'We have been merciful and have brought back the brat back to you, leaving her unharmed, but don't you ever try and pull a stunt like that again!' he yelled, before storming out of the building leaving a confused Order behind him. How did he get in here?

**-THE TRUTH REVEALED-**

By the time Sanaro arrived back home, Damian was awakening.

'What happened?' asked Damian, groggily, attempting to sit up.

'You were under a love charm,' answered Daphne, sitting next to him with a worried Alinga on her lap. 'Ginny Weasley has been feeding you love potion and she eventually gave you a necklace to make you stay in love with her, as long as you were wearing it.'

'I still don't understand how that necklace works,' said Vincent.

'The rose quartz in the middle had magical properties. Rose quartz is used to make the wearer fall in love with the person that had the other necklace. Weasley was safe from falling in love with Damian seeing as she had a fake rose quartz,' answered Daphne, not taking her eyes off Damian. 'I knew that I had recognised that necklace somewhere. If only I had realised what it was sooner.'

'It wasn't your fault, Daphne,' Pansy said, firmly.

'In fact, I should be the one thanking you,' Damian said, sitting up. 'If you hadn't bought me those books, who knows what would have happened!' He leant forward and gave her a hug.

'Are you alright, Damian?' asked Alinga, slithering over to her new master.

'Yes, I'm alright,' replied Damian, as she curled up.

The rest of the day went by with no dramas, and that night, when Damian went to bed, with his new snake curled up by his side to keep warm, he thought that this had been the best birthday so far.

* * *

**A/N: **If you wish to see a picture of a hadhayosh, there is a picture on my facebook page.

**Azaelia Silmarwen facebook page:** link on profile  
**Written:** 17 July 2012  
**Updated:** **  
Beta:**

**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT CLAIM OWNERSHIP OVER THE ORIGINAL COPYRIGHTED MATERIAL IN THIS STORY. THIS IS A NON-PROFIT FANDUB CREATED BY FANS, FOR FANS. NO COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT INTENDED, FAIR USE ONLY.**


	7. Chapter 7

**CHAPTER SEVEN**

A few days later, after Damian's birthday, the Hogwarts letters were sent out. According to Sanaro, his letter was unwillingly sent out. Not that it surprised Damian, but he was thrilled to know that he would be able to return to Hogwarts again for his final year. He was not thrilled; however, when his parents said that when Lucius takes Draco to receive his Hogwarts supplies, they were going to pick Damian's up too. This resulted in a three day argument and only ended when Sanaro came to his aid saying that he also had to go to Diagon Alley and that he would look after Damian. As a result, a week before they were due to return to Hogwarts, Sanaro and Damian Apparated to Leaky Cauldron where they were to meet up with the Malfoys, Hermione and Daphne. Voldemort had insisted that Hermione didn't go by herself, seeing as he didn't trust Dumbledore. Daphne was there for she was spending the week with Hermione. The two girls had become close friends.

'Hi, Damian, Draco.' Daphne greeted, when the two girls finally arrived. 'Sorry we're late. The traffic was horrible.'

'That's alright,' Damian smiled. 'Shall we get going? Mum and Dad gave strict instructions and want us home by one; otherwise Dad's coming down to look for us, and I don't think that would be a good idea.'

'To think that he doesn't trust us,' Severus said sadly to Narcissa and Lucius, but they were staring at Damian. They had never heard the youngest Heir of Slytherin address his parents as mum and dad. 'Let's go to Madam Malkin's first,' he added. 'None of Harry's robes fit anymore seeing as he's no longer a weed.'

'I still can't get over your new look,' said Daphne as they headed towards Madam Malkin's Robes for all Occasions. 'I didn't recognise you at first.'

'Neither did I,' admitted Hermione. 'I feel short,' she added as she looked up at Damian. They use to be the same height.

'That's because you are,' Draco teased, looking down at her.

'Hey! Does that mean you're calling me short too seeing as I'm the same size as her?' demanded Daphne, fighting to keep the smile off her face.

'Of course,' Draco shrugged, before he was pushed playfully by a laughing Daphne.

The group spent a while in Madam Malkin's due to Damian practically getting a new wardrobe for school and special occasions where Voldemort refused to allow him to wear his Muggle clothes. Not that Narcissa, Daphne and Hermione minded. They enjoyed being allowed to browse the different racks of robes and trying them on. They even bought a few. In the meantime, Draco and Lucius sat patiently, while an impatient Damian tried to stand still as Madam Malkin hemmed up his robes, and Sanaro choose different robes for different occasions. If Harry had it his way he would have just grabbed a handful of robes and would have left the room.

Over an hour later, they left a shaken Madam Malkin's - she had been shaking the entire time from the moment she saw Lucius and Sanaro - and headed towards Flourish and Blotts, before going to the apothecary to pick up their potion supplies and the ingredients that Sanaro needed. After they had bought everything they needed, they stopped at Weasley's Wizard Wheezes. Draco and Damian had made many plans on what they were going to do to Damian's old "friends" during the holidays, they just needed the equipment. After a five minute argument with his brother about being able to look after himself, Damian was finally allowed to join Draco and his friends inside.

Draco had already picked out a number of handy items when Damian came over to him, and Damian soon added a few more items to Draco's pile. Neither of the boys would answer the girl's questions as to why they were buying so much.

'Damian, hurry up. We've got to leave soon,' Sanaro told his brother, ten minutes later.

'Okay, I'll go and pay for all this and then we can go,' replied Damian.

'You can't pay for all of them,' Draco argued. 'Let me pay for half.'

'If you insist, but at least allow me to pay for them all first. I think they might be a little suspicious if you buy them,' Damian said pointedly.

'Won't they be suspicious if you buy them too?' asked Daphne.

'Maybe, but they have no idea who I am, do they?' Damian replied, smiling mischievously before going to the counter.

He was hoping that one of Fred and George's staff members would be serving, but he wasn't in luck. Fred was at the counter with George standing behind him sorting out the shelves.

'Just these items, thanks,' muttered Damian. He was glad that his voice had changed along with his looks.

'I think we've got a serious prankster here, George,' Fred said as he put everything into two bags.

'I think you're right, Fred,' George said, glancing over at Damian.

Damian moved uncomfortably and opened his money bag.

'How much do I owe you?' he asked.

Out the corner of his eye he could see Sanaro watching the whole exchange very closely. Damian was starting to wonder why no one had reacted to Sanaro or Lucius' presence yet.

_They're probably too interested in everything else to pay much attention,_ thought Damian.

'Nothing, it's free,' Fred answered simply, handing Damian the bags.

'Why?' Damian asked suspiciously, excepting the bags.

'He has changed the way he looks, talks and acts, yet he's still as thick as ever,' George laughed, shaking his head. 'How many times do we have to tell you, Damian? You can have anything you want from here for free. After all, you did give us the money.'

'How did you know it was me?' asked a shocked Damian. Sanaro was walking over to him. 'And why aren't you yelling for the Aurors or anything? Ron and Ginny would be -'

'Ah, but they take after our mother, along with Percy. They judge people based on their family and family reputations. Whereas, we take after Bill and Charlie; we all base people on what their personality is like, not whether they're famous nor have an evil father. Besides, you're still the same Damian we got to know over the years. You've just had a change in looks and surname,' answered Fred.

'Thanks, but you didn't answer how you knew it was me.'

'I think I'd like to know that too,' said Sanaro, stopping next to Damian. He was staring suspiciously at the twins.

'Don't mind him. My brother is very protective of me,' said Damian. 'Besides, he's a big softie if you know him.'

'Damian, I would ask you not to say that stuff about me in public, especially the softie part. I have a reputation to keep,' Sanaro said firmly, but he had a smile playing at the corner of his lips.

'We figured it was you when we saw you with Hermione, Greengrass, the Malfoys and your brother, especially since you look like him,' said George.

'Plus your scar is showing,' added Fred.

Damian hurriedly patted down his fringe, while Sanaro looked thoughtful.

'Anyway, I should go. I'll see you two around,' said Damian as he followed Sanaro out of the shop to meet the others.

'So, how much do I owe you?' asked Draco, taking one of the bags off Damian as they walked back to Leaky Cauldron.

'Nothing,' answered Damian.

'Damian, I'm not going to allow you to pay for all of them,' Draco said firmly.

'Well if you ever find out what half of zero sickles are, they you can pay me that negative amount if you find out how to do that,' replied Damian, trying not to laugh at his best friends confused face.

'The Weasley twins gave him everything for free,' Sanaro said, taking pity on his godson.

'What? Why would they do that?' asked a still bewildered Draco.

'They knew who Harry was, due to his company and scar,' explained Sanaro. 'We are lucky that no one else realised.'

'I guess. Well, I guess I'll see you on the Hogwarts Express next week then,' Damian said when they arrived at Leaky Cauldron.

'Yes, you will. See you later, Damian,' said Hermione.

'Bye,' said Daphne.

'I'll see you tomorrow,' said Draco.

Damian nodded and Apparated back home with Sanaro.

**-THE TRUTH REVEALED-**

The week seemed to fly by and before Damian knew it, he was standing in the living home listening to his parents telling him the rules and lecturing him about being safe and what not. Meanwhile, Sanaro was standing in the corner looking highly amused until Nagini start on him, then it was Damian's turn to be amused.

Eventually, Damian Apparated to King's Cross station where he was to meet up with Draco. He soon found Draco in one of the compartments with Pansy, lips locked. Damian stood there for a moment debating whether or not he should interrupt them, and in the end he decided "what the hell?" and knocked once the door before opening it. Draco and Pansy broke apart real quickly.

'Just a word of advice; if you don't want to be disturbed, try finding a place where you won't be or put a "do not disturb" sign on the door,' Damian smirked.

'Oh shut up, Damian!' Pansy laughed. 'It is good to see you too! Have you seen the others yet?'

'No, I only just got here,' replied Damian.

'So, Damian … any idea on whom you're going to ask to the ball?' Pansy asked once Damian had settled down on a seat opposite Draco.

'Ball? What ball?' Damian asked, confused.

'The ball that all seventh years have at Christmas to celebrate their final year at Hogwarts,' Pansy answered. 'Honestly, Damian, where have you been for the past six years? Didn't your family tell you about it? They said that they went to Hogwarts.'

'No, they didn't. But Sanaro did say something about having fun dancing. And here I was thinking that I wouldn't have to do it ever again,' Damian sighed.

'What's wrong with dancing?' asked Pansy.

'Nothing, when you can dance. Didn't you see how bad I was at the Yule Ball?'

'You weren't that bad,' said Pansy. 'All you need is a little instruction. I'm sure Daphne would love to help you.'

'If you say so,' muttered Damian.

'So, who are you going to ask?' asked Draco.

'No idea,' admitted Damian.

'Well, you better ask someone soon.'

'The ball's not till Christmas so why do I have to ask someone now? Besides, I have to check with my parents if I'm allowed to go. They might want me at home during Christmas.'

'Hi all,' said Hermione as Daphne and her entered the compartment.

'Hi!'

'Daphne, someone wants to say hi,' Damian said once everyone had arrived, and after all the greeting and stories were told. 'She's been pestering me since you arrived.'

Everyone frowned at Damian until he pulled something black from his neck revealing his snake Alinga. For some reason, Alinga like Daphne more than she did Damian's other friends. Sometimes he thought that she liked her more than she like him. When he told her that they were going to Hogwarts where Daphne was, Alinga was so excited that one would have thought that she was going to see a long lost friend that she hadn't seen for many years.

'Hi, Alinga!' Daphne said happily, excepting the Taipan off Damian.

Damian sat there and watched Daphne for a while as she handled Alinga. She was very good with snakes, he realised, but strangely enough he also realised how beautiful she was too. Everyone said the Ginny Weasley was the prettiest girl at Hogwarts, but Damian had to disagree. Daphne would have to be one of the most beautiful girls he had ever seen at Hogwarts, he just add never really noticed her before.

'So what do you think, Harry?' asked Neville, snapping Damian back into reality.

'Huh? What do I think about what?'

'You haven't been listening to a word we've said, have you?' demanded Blaise.

'No sorry, my thoughts were... somewhere else,' mumbled Damian.

'What were you thinking about?' asked a curious Theodore.

'Nothing too important,' Damian said quickly as he felt his face begin to burn.

'If it's nothing important, than why are you turning red?' Draco laughed.

'Leave him alone. He can't help it if a certain beauty has captured his eyes and heart,' said a knowing Hermione.

'Huh?'

Hermione just smiled and winked at Damian. Had he been that obvious?

The trip to Hogwarts was pleasant enough, for nobody interrupted them which surprised them greatly. Why hadn't Weasley and the other Gryffindors come to taunt and annoy them? Damian's theory was that they were staying with Ginny Weasley because of what happened on his birthday or his second theory was that they were planning something. Once he told his friends of the second theory they all exchanged looks and Damian groaned. They were all starting to develop plans to make sure Damian wasn't left alone.

When they arrived at Hogsmeade Station, Damian became aware of the other seventh year students and some six, fifth and fourth year students continuously glancing over at him. Most of them were trying to figure out who he was, but others were just wondering who the new hottie was.

When they ended up arriving in the Great Hall, many heads turned their way from seventh years, sixth years and the teachers, except for Severus. All of them were wondering who the new boy was and what he was doing with Draco and the other Slytherins, Hermione, Neville and Luna. They also began to wonder where Harrison Riddle was. Some of the smarter students and teachers had suspicions as to who the boy was, and their suspicions were nearly confirmed when he sat down at the Slytherin table, trying not to laugh. In the end it was too much for Dumbledore, and he rose to his feet and walked over to where Damian was sitting. The Hall went quiet.

'I'm sorry, but I thought I knew ever student that studied at Hogwarts. Sadly, I don't recall ever seeing you before. What is your name, my dear boy?' Dumbledore asked kindly, his eyes twinkling madly.

'Firstly, I am not your "dear boy",' said Damian, turning and looking up at the man he hated with every bone in his body. 'Secondly, how can you not recognise me? Surely you can tell who I am related to. I am like a mirror image of my brother, Sanaro, and Father, or did you think that I would remain looking like James Potter for the rest of my life?'

'Oh, I didn't recognise you. I take it that Sanaro was able to make you a potion...'

'Obviously. How else do you think I got my natural looks back?' Damian interrupted coldly, before turning his attention back to his friends, ignoring the fact that Dumbledore was standing behind him.

Since the beginning of year feast, many people had become very weary of Damian, for they now believed that he had changed completely and that he was to become the next Dark Lord. Damian ignored all the gossip and concentrated on his studies and Quidditch tactics. Damian remained the best student in Defence Against the Dark Arts, which surprised many people, and he soon became the best student in Potions too due to Sanaro's private tutoring. His Transfiguration mark also went a great deal due to his father's tutoring the same with his mother's tutoring on Charms.

Surprisingly, the beginning of the year went quietly with the only exciting events being the inter-house Quidditch matches. However, as the seventh year Christmas ball approached, every student became excited and all that could be heard from their conversations was about the masquerade ball. Who was going with who, who was likely to win king, queen, princess and prince, and many other conversations about outfits and make-up.

'So, have you thought about who you are going to ask yet, Damian?' Pansy asked Damian, two weeks before the ball.

'Kind of,' admitted Damian, with a sideways glance at Daphne, who was sneaking food to Alinga.

'Really? Who were you think of?' Daphne asked, looking up and over at him.

'I - er - have you got a date yet?'

'No, and don't try to change the subject, Damian Riddle! Who do you have a crush on?' demanded Daphne.

Damian tried to ignore her. He could feel the heat rising in his cheeks.

'What about you, Hermione?' Damian asked quickly, and, to his surprise, she blushed.

'Blaise asked me and I accepted,' Hermione muttered, smiling over at Blaise who was sitting next to. He grinned back and took her hand.

'Come on, Hermione, let's get to class,' he said, leading her out of the hall, followed shortly but a laughing Draco and Pansy. This left Daphne and Damian sitting at the table since Neville and Luna were sitting together talking quietly and the others were who knows where. Damian and Daphne had a spare.

'Damian, are you alright?' Daphne asked, frowning with concern. 'You've been acting weirdly lately, whenever someone mentions you taking someone to the ball. Why have you been acting like that?'

'It's because he's in love with you. Haven't you noticed Daphne? Haven't you noticed the way he looks at you? And here I was thinking that males were the blind ones,' said Alinga.

Damian was grateful that Daphne couldn't speak Parseltongue, but that didn't stop Damian hissing back at Alinga.

'Alinga, shut up,' hissed Damian. She laughed a snake laugh.

Daphne just looked confused at their exchange.

'I wish I could speak Parseltongue,' Daphne sighed. 'So, who is it?'

'Come with me to the lake and I'll tell you,' muttered Damian as he felt some of the teacher's eyes on him.

'Sure,' Daphne shrugged, following him from the Hall.

Once they were at the Lake, Damian turned to face her. What if she had no feelings for him? What if she said that she only wanted to remain friends? And what if she had no feelings for him and he ruined their friendship by admitting having feelings for her?

'Tell her already, will you!' Alinga urged. 'What's the worst that can happen?'

_A lot,_ thought Damian, but he decided to ask her anyway.

'Daphne, will you come to the ball with me?'

Daphne blinked and just stared at him, before flinging her arms around his neck and kissing him, which Damian returned after his initial shock was over.

'I've actually been contemplating asking you to the ball, but when you started acting weirdly, I thought that your heart belonged to another, that or you were under some love spell again,' admitted Daphne, once they had broken apart and she noticed Damian's questioning look.

Damian only smiled and embraced her again. It felt so right to hold her in his arms. He had never felt anything like it. He never had the same feeling with Cho or Ginny, and at that moment he knew that he wished to spend the rest of his life with her.

His family and friends were thrilled to learn of Damian and Daphne's new found relationship, but it also meant that Daphne now had rules from Voldemort in order to protect herself. Voldemort was convinced that Dumbledore would use Daphne against Damian. However, it seemed as though Dumbledore had given up, but that didn't mean that Damian let himself relax. He knew that Dumbledore could still be planning something big...

The seventh years' masquerade ball was soon upon them and everyone was looking forward to it. At six-thirty, the Damian, Draco, and Blaise were all sitting in the Slytherin common room waiting for their dates to appear. They were the only ones left.

'Honestly, how long does it take to get ready?' Draco wondered aloud. It had only taken him and the other two boys twenty minutes to get ready.

'They're girls, Draco,' Blaise answered as though it explained everything. It was at that moment that the girls emerged and the boys felt their jaws drop.

All three of them looked beautiful, but Damian only had eyes for Daphne. She was wearing a teal, long, floaty, boob-tube dress with her dark hair all curled and cascading down her back. She blushed slightly as she walked over to Damian.

'You look absolutely beautiful,' Damian told her quietly, as someone entered the common room.

'You don't look too bad yourself,' replied Daphne, turning to face Sanaro, who had just entered the room with a camera. 'What's with the camera, Professor Snape?'

'Every Head of House must take photos of their students,' Sanaro lied. 'So far I've managed to get everyone except you six. So come on, get into groups and let's get some photos. I also need to get single ones.'

Damian's friends all shrugged, except Draco. They bought his lie and got themselves ready while Damian walked over to his brother.

Sanaro winked down at him and said quietly, 'Mother and Father want a lot of photos.'

'Nice cover up,' Damian grinned, before going back and joining Daphne.

Once the photos were all down and dusted, Damian and his friends made their way to the ball to meet up with Neville and the other Slytherins.

Surprisingly enough, the night went by with no dramas. It was the one time that the different houses actually mingled together without cursing one enough. The only thing that would make Damian's night more perfect would have been if Sanaro hadn't been continuously watching him and Daphne every now and then. He knew that Nagini had put his brother up to it.

* * *

**Azaelia Silmarwen facebook page:** link on profile  
**Written:** 25 November 2011  
**Updated:  
Beta:**

**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT CLAIM OWNERSHIP OVER THE ORIGINAL COPYRIGHTED MATERIAL IN THIS STORY. THIS IS A NON-PROFIT FANDUB CREATED BY FANS, FOR FANS. NO COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT INTENDED, FAIR USE ONLY.**


	8. Chapter 8

**CHAPTER EIGHT**

Christmas was soon over as a new term had started once more and Damian wished that he could turn invisible or at least wear his invisibility cloak in between classes. The reason he felt this way was due to all the looks of fear, hatred and disgust he was getting from the Gryffindors, Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs. During the holidays, his father authorised that many raids on Order member families and the Ministry, that, in some way, many students were affected. Many had lost parents, siblings, cousins, aunts and uncles, grandparents and friends. As a result, Damian got all the hatred, and Dumbledore's fruitless attempts to get hold of him became even more desperate... that was until he found away...

Two weeks into the term, Damian walked into the Great Hall with Daphne and became very uncomfortable. The entire student body - save the Slytherins - were silent and glaring at him. The teachers on the other hand just looked shocked and upset. The Slytherins, however, were just staring at Damian as though they were trying to figure something out. Most people were grouped around the Daily Prophet.

Damian did not know what to think. Did his father plan a last minute raid or something? Silently, Daphne led Damian over to Draco and the others to find out what was going on. As Damian was sitting down, he glanced over at Dumbledore and saw that he was looking triumphant. Startled, Damian looked for his brother but he could not see him. Damian was beginning to get worried. He quickly looked at Draco, who silently handed the morning Prophet. Frowning, Damian accepted the paper.

The news heading jumped straight out at Damian saying; _FATHER LIKE SON_ in big bold letters with a picture of Damian underneath the title showing him torturing a little girl. Damian stared at the picture in horror. Who was this person? True he looked exactly like him, but it wasn't him. He would never harm a child. Still horrified, Damian began to read to the article.

_Sources have now confirmed our worse fears that __Damian_ _Marvolo Riddle, 17, previously known as Harry James Potter, is in fact exactly like this father, the Dark Lord and brother, Sanaro Delano Riddle, 37. Our source, who wishes to remain anonymous for their own safety and the safety of their family, was unfortunate enough to stumble across __Damian__, last night, willingly and enjoyably torturing a helpless and innocent five year old Muggle girl while two Death Eaters stood there watching. The witness was able to get the picture shown above before contacting the Aurors. Sadly, by the time the Aurors arrived at the scene, Riddle was gone and the girl's small dead, broken body was all that remained._

_This now leaves us wondering, has the "Chosen One" been evil from the very beginning or has his infamous Father used dark magic on him? Either way, should we be worried for our safety and the safety of our children, especially those children who are currently attending Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry with __Damian__? Do we have another future Dark Lord on our hands? For more details, see page 3..._

Damian sat there stunned, before looking around at his friends. Draco, Blaise and Hermione were openly glaring at Dumbledore while Luna, Neville and Pansy looked sympathetically at Damian. Daphne on the hand looked as though she was about to curse someone, namely Dumbledore.

'Let's get out of here before I curse someone,' Daphne snarled, before whispering to Damian. 'You need to call your father.'

'Right,' muttered a grateful Damian. The silence and glares were starting to suffocate him.

Damian, Daphne, Draco, Pansy, Blaise and Hermione all stood up and started to leave but before they had gone halfway, the Great Hall's door were flung open and in walked several Aurors including a disgusted Kingsley Shacklebolt and an upset Tonks. They were all walking towards Damian wands at the ready.

'Damian Riddle, you are under arrest for the murder of the Muggle girl you were caught torturing for pleasure last night -' began Shacklebolt, but Daphne interrupted him.

'But it wasn't Damian!' she said angrily. 'Sure it looks like him but it wasn't! I can swear it in his trial, for he was with me the entire night!'

'Do you have any proof, besides just your word?' asked Tonks.

'We can also confirm it,' Pansy said, motioning to their friendship group.

'You do realise that the jury won't take your words seriously. All of you, besides Hermione, Mr Longbottom and Miss Lovegood, are children of known Death Eaters or have family members that are into the Dark Arts. It also doesn't help that all of you are friends and that Miss Greengrass is Mr Riddle's girlfriend,' Tonks said pointedly. 'Unless you can find some solid proof, you won't be able to prove his innocence over a photo. After all, a picture speaks a thousand words.'

'Not that it matters seeing as he won't be getting a trial,' said one of the Aurors.

'What? But he is entitled to one!' argued Hermione.

'What's the point? The photo is all the proof that is needed,' another Auror shrugged. 'Now Mr Riddle, are you going to come quietly or are we going to have to use force?'

'Do you honestly think that I'd leave with you?' Damian said with a hollow laugh. 'I'm safe as long as I'm at Hogwarts. So you can't use force on me either.'

'I'm afraid that you are no longer welcome, Mr Riddle,' Dumbledore said, going into grandfather mode. 'After last night, I cannot risk the safety of the other students -'

'Please don't insult my intelligence. You and I both know that you have set me up. You've wanted me gone since the end of last year,' snapped Damian.

'I'm afraid I don't know what you are talking about, Harrison.'

'Your eyes say otherwise.'

'Enough of this, Riddle. Come with us or else,' snapped another Auror.

'No. And you can't force - argh!' Damian yelled as ropes shot out of Dumbledore's wand and began to wrap around Damian.

Daphne quickly freed her boyfriend.

'How -?' asked a bewildered Damian. Why didn't Hogwarts protect him?

'Hogwarts protects the Heirs, but not from the other Heirs,' Dumbledore explained. 'And seeing as I'm the Heir of Gryffindor, I can attack you without worrying about Hogwarts protecting you. Now, don't make this harder than it has to be. Go with them for I do not want to attack you.'

'Yeah right,' spat Damian.

Dumbledore looked sadly at Harry, though his eyes were twinkling madly with triumph, as he raised his wand and aimed it at Damian. As Dumbledore opened his mouth, the entrance doors opened once more to reveal Severus Snape. Sanaro looked around curiously and when he looked at his brother, Damian noticed the hint of fear in his Glamoured black eyes.

'What's going on?' he asked, stopping a short distance away from Damian.

'Did you see the morning paper this morning, Sanaro?' asked Shacklebolt.

'I haven't as get. Why?'

One of the Gryffindors handed him the Prophet and Damian watched as his brother's face went from confusion, to shock, to sheer horror, before becoming blank as he looked up and searched Damian's face.

'Last chance, Damian. Come quietly or you will be forced out of Hogwarts,' said Dumbledore. 'Damian? Are you listening?' Dumbledore then looked from Sanaro to Damian. 'Ah. You believe that Professor Snape will protect you because he is one of your father's Death Eaters. Well, he won't be for he actually works for me.'

Sanaro's eyes flashed and Damian knew that his brother was going to fight Dumbledore in order to protect him. What other choice did he have? He wouldn't be a very good big brother if he abandoned his little brother now. Besides, if he did abandon Damian his parents would kill him.

'Guess again, Dumbledore,' Sanaro growled, dropping his Glamour, making everyone, except Damian and Draco, gasp. Severus Snape was Sanaro Riddle. 'I think you need to get your facts right before making such outrageous announcement. Now I suggest you lower your wand and step away from my brother!' he said coldly, walking over and standing in front of Damian. He aimed his own wand at Dumbledore.

'I don't believe that you are in a position to give me orders, Sanaro,' said Dumbledore. His eyes were still twinkling madly. 'While Damian is of age, he is still a student and I unwillingly wish to attack him. You, however, are a different story.'

'Your grandfather act isn't going to work, Dumbledore, and one day everyone will see the truth,' Sanaro sneered.

Damian could tell that his brother was nervous. He could also tell that his brother was doing some serious thinking. Sanaro knew that he was no match for Dumbledore, even their father had trouble fighting and winning against him, but if it meant protecting Damian, he would do whatever it took.

'Why don't you do yourself a favour, Sanaro, and surrender? If you co-operate, I'll make sure that your sentence isn't as harsh as it could be,' Dumbledore tried to bargain.

Sanaro's eyes hardened even more.

'I'm not an idiot. I know that you are lying. You won't take Damian without a fight. I'll make sure of it.'

'That is an unwise decision, Sanaro. I thought you were an intelligent man. Obviously I was wrong,' Dumbledore said seemingly sadly, but Damian, Sanaro, Hermione, Neville, Luna and the Slytherins all saw that he was actually delighted.

Then, without warning, Dumbledore striked. Sanaro only just had enough time to push Damian out of the way, before protecting himself. Sanaro glared at Dumbledore and threw a curse back at him. It was Dumbledore's turn to dodge. It seemed that everyone was holding their breath, as the two powerful wizards did battle, neither fighting to kill. The duel lasted for half an hour and it looked like Sanaro was going to win, but it turned out that Dumbledore had been holding back and he was soon able to disarm Sanaro, before sending him flying backwards where he soon landed and laid unconscious.

'SANARO!' screamed Damian, running over to see if his brother was alright.

He had to be alright! Damian had already lost Sirius who had protected him. He couldn't lose Sanaro as well!

'Sanaro? Sanaro!' Damian yelled, rolling his brother onto his back and checking to see he was still breathing. He was. Sighing, Damian was about to give Dumbledore a piece of his mind when he heard Daphne yell out a warning to him, but it was too late. Harry turned just in time to see a jet of red light shooting towards him, before it hit him and he too fell unconscious to Daphne screaming out his name.

**-THE TRUTH REVEALED-**

When Damian started to regain consciousness, he first realised that he was lying on a bed and the second thing he realised was that his wrists were shackled to the bed head. Damian slowly opened his eyes and tried to pull his wrists free, but all that did was injure his wrists. Instead, Damian began to take in his surroundings. Damian immediately recognised where he was. He was currently lying on the bed that he had at Grimmauld Place and was in the room he shared with Ron Weasley in his fifth year.

Damian became aware of movement on the bed that Weasley had and saw that Sanaro was laying there and was slowly coming too.

'Sanaro? Sanaro, can you hear me?' asked Damian.

'Damian?' Sanaro groaned.

'Yeah, it's me.'

'Where are we?' he groaned again as he tried to sit up.

'Grimmauld Place,' answered Damian.

'Do you know how long we've been here for?'

'No. I've only been awake for a few minutes.'

Silence formed between the two brothers for a few minutes. Eventually Sanaro broke the silence.

'I'm sorry, Damian,' he sighed sadly.

'Sorry? Sorry for what?' asked a confused Damian.

'I wasn't able to protect you and now we're both at the mercy of Dumbledore,' explained Sanaro.

'Don't be stupid. You gave it your best. Not even our father could have protected me from that monster,' Damian said firmly.

'Hmm,' said an unconvinced Sanaro, before turning his attention to the sound of the bedroom door unlocking.

Moments later, Remus walked in followed by Tonks and a hooded figure.

Out the corner of his eye, Damian saw Sanaro tense up as Remus quietly closed the door. Then, before Damian knew it, his shackles and Sanaro's shackles disappeared. Confused, he looked questioningly at Remus, but Remus had his back turned and was fiddling with something on a nearby table. The hooded figure, however, walked confidently over to Damian. Sanaro, having noticed this, leaped off his bed and pulled Damian behind him, daring the hooded figure to come any closer.

Seeing this, the hooded figure stopped and took off his hood.

'Oh, it's only you,' Sanaro sighed in relief, sitting back down on the bed. 'Father sent you, didn't he? But what's with Lupin and Tonks?'

The figure didn't get a chance to answer for Damian, who had been standing there shocked, suddenly ran and flung his arms around the man's waist, sobbing quietly.

An hour after Remus and the others visited, Dumbledore visited the two brothers and told them of the bargain he had struck with Voldemort. The bargain made was that of Damian being freed and allowed to return to Ancalime Mansion, if Voldemort surrendered. Voldemort, holding so much love for his youngest son agreed immediately, after trying to save Sanaro as well, but Dumbledore declined.

With that said Moody and Shacklebolt grabbed Damian and took him out of the room before Apparating him away to a clearing where Voldemort stood waiting with Nagini and a hooded figure standing next to him.

'Damian!' breathed a relieved Voldemort, before saying something to him in Parseltongue. Voldemort then frowned. Damian, who was currently gagged, eyes widened with fear and Voldemort knew immediately that something was wrong, as did Nagini.

'As per our deal, Tom. The freedom of your youngest son, for your surrender,' Dumbledore said, smiling horribly. 'Step forward and surrender your wand, then Damian will be free to go home with your - er - _charming_ wife.'

Voldemort glared at Dumbledore before he slowly took a step forward, but stopped and quickly looked to his left as a voice yelled out, 'No! Stop, Father!'

Voldemort froze and slowly turning to look at Severus, Damian, Remus, Tonks and the hooded man came running towards them. It was Damian who had yelled out to him.

Voldemort was speechless, and not because his sons were running towards him when they were supposed to be at Dumbledore's mercy. No, he was shocked because his son had called him father. He had actually called him father.

'But... how?' asked Nagini.

'Polyjuice potion and the Imperious Curse,' Sanaro said simply. 'But... shouldn't you know that? After all, you were the one that sent Sirius -'

'I didn't send anyone,' Voldemort frowned, 'though it does explain why Sirius seemed to have gone missing.'

'I did it myself. Nothing can stop a Black from getting into his or her own house,' said Sirius, removing his cloak. 'However, I was caught by Remus and Tonks and once I explained everything, they decided to join us.'

'Sirius?' said a shocked Dumbledore.

'Something wrong, Dumbledore?' Sirius asked mockingly. 'Let me guess, you thought that my cousin killed me? Well, I hate to burst your bubble but I overheard you talking to Moody about wiping me from the picture of Damian's life. Next time, when you're planning someone's murder, don't do it in the said person's kitchen.'

'So that's when you sent Kreacher to Bella and Father,' said Damian. Sirius had explained everything to him back in Grimmauld Place.

'Indeed. We should have done it sooner,' Moody growled.

'I'm just grateful that I got out when I did then,' Lily stated as she removed her hood.

Damian gasped. He couldn't believe that the woman he had believed to be his mother was alive. However, this was too much for Dumbledore. Blinded by his anger, he quickly drew his wand, as did Moody and Shacklebolt, but before any of them could cast a single spell, Lily, Sirius, Remus, Tonks, Sanaro, Damian and Voldemort had their own wands pointed at the three of them.

'I suggest you take that fake Damian and get out of my sight, Dumbledore,' Voldemort spat.

After one last glare Dumbledore and the others Apparated away. Voldemort embraced both his boys. Damian did not flitch. Instead, he smiled and hugged his father back tightly.

Once Voldemort had let go of his youngest son, Damian turned and looked at Lily, except she was hurrying over to embrace Sanaro. However, what shocked him most was when Lily and Sanaro kissed.

'James and Lily's relationship didn't really work out,' Sirius explained, noticing Damian's confused look.

'How can she be alive? I thought Dad -'

'Sanaro asked me to spare her. That's why on Halloween night sixteen years ago, I took two other Death Eaters with me, who were able to capture Lily while I dealt with you and James Potter,' explained Voldemort. 'Of course, it took some time to convince her about our intentions.'

'But... whenever the Dementors came near me, I always heard her death,' said Damian.

'Probably another one of Dumbledore's tricks,' said Nagini.

'Probably. It took me a few years to convince Tom to let you live, in case you're wondering why I never tried to stop him attacking you,' said Lily.

'That explains a lot, but why am I only seeing you and Sirius alive now?' asked Damian.

'Tom decided that we should remain hidden to avoid Dumbledore's wrath, hence we have been out of the country trying to recruit more Death Eaters,' replied Lily.

'Then why did you tell me?' Damian demanded, looking accusingly at Sanaro and his parents.

'You never asked,' Sanaro shrugged.

I wonder why,' Damian said sarcastically, before looking around at the adults. 'So, what do we do now?'

'What he did was unacceptable. It's time we settle this once and for all. It's time we fought for what we believe in,' said Voldemort.

* * *

**Azaelia Silmarwen facebook page:** link on profile  
**Written:** 29 December 2011  
**Updated:  
Beta:**

**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT CLAIM OWNERSHIP OVER THE ORIGINAL COPYRIGHTED MATERIAL IN THIS STORY. THIS IS A NON-PROFIT FANDUB CREATED BY FANS, FOR FANS. NO COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT INTENDED, FAIR USE ONLY.**


	9. Chapter 9

**CHAPTER NINE**

For weeks, Voldemort and his Death Eaters prepared for the upcoming war against Dumbledore. For weeks, Voldemort poured over maps of Hogwarts with Sanaro, Lily and Sirius whilst getting as much information about the Order out of Remus and Tonks. They were planning to take the war to Hogwarts, hoping that they could sneak up on Dumbledore to minimise the amount of lives that could be lost. They also had the upper hand. On normal circumstances, Hogwarts is inaccessible to invaders, but seeing as Dumbledore had no idea of their attack, he would not have time to defend the castle. The other advantage was the fact that they had the Marauder's Map and they constantly watched it to get some idea of Dumbledore's intentions since they had now lost Sanaro as a spy.

However, despite all the careful planning, on the day of the attack, Damian - who was in his bedroom, studying the Marauder's Map - noticed that Aurors and Order members alike were gathering on the grounds and that most of the students had left the castle. The only students that remained were the seventh year Gryffindors, Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws, all of whom seemed to be running around through the many corridors and across the grounds.

Upon seeing this, Damian hurried off to his father's study. When he reached his father's study, Damian knocked before entering. Inside he found Voldemort, Nagini, Sanaro, Remus, Tonks, Sirius, Lily, Lucius, Narcissa, Bellatrix and many other inner circle Death Eater members. They were currently going over the finishing touches to today's war.

'Damian, is something wrong?' asked Lily, looking up from the map her and Sanaro were looking at.

'He knows. He knows of an attack,' Damian announced, looking directly at his father.

'What? How is that possible?' asked a shocked Lucius.

'I don't know, but the Marauder's Map suggests that he knows,' answered Damian, handing the Map to Sirius. Remus looked over Sirius' shoulder. 'There are Aurors and Order members within Hogwarts' walls, and all students except Gryffindor, Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw seventh years are missing.'

'He's right,' said Sirius. 'They are all along the boarders and - I can't believe it - they even have the secret passages protected.'

'But how did they find out?' asked Bellatrix.

'We must have a spy in our mists again,' said Sanaro. 'I'll go and get the Veritaserum ready,' he added, getting to his feet.

'I'll come with you,' said Lily, also getting up. 'If there is a spy, it won't be safe for you or Damian to walk around on your own. Seeing as you two are Tom's greatest weaknesses.'

'Lily is right. Sirius, please keep an eye on Damian and Damian, don't go off without Sirius,' said Voldemort as Lily and Sanaro left. 'Though I'll have to find someone else to protect you while we are at Hogwarts -'

'Wait! Are you saying that I have to remain here while you all go off to fight?' exclaimed an outraged Damian.

'Yes. That's exactly what I'm saying,' Voldemort said calmly.

'No! I will not! I refuse to remain here while my family and friends go off and risk their lives!' Damian yelled stubbornly. 'Besides, I'm seventeen years old. I'm not a child anymore!'

'I hate to admit it, but he does have a point, dear,' Nagini said reluctantly. 'We can't hold him here against his will.'

Voldemort sighed and looked at his youngest son.

'Fine. Just don't do anything stupid,' Voldemort said in defeat.

'I promise,' said Damian, while a few Death Eaters snorted. When didn't Damian do anything stupid?

That night, Voldemort and his army stood a short distance away from Hogwarts' boarders and saw that a blue barrier had been put over the castle. Damian, Voldemort, Nagini and Sanaro stood at the front of the army, each dressed in black - except Nagini, obviously - though Damian was dressed in teenage Muggle boy clothes, while both Voldemort and Sanaro were in robes.

'Why do they even bother with something so trivial?' asked Voldemort, looking faintly annoyed. 'One would think that they enjoy annoying me.'

'Probably do,' Sanaro replied mildly.

'Hmm,' said Voldemort, before motioning to his Death Eaters to begin taking down the barrier.

'This seems almost too easy,' Lily commented, walking over and standing next to Sanaro.

'Indeed. Dumbledore is probably trying to lead us into a false sense of invincibility and make us over confident,' Voldemort agreed. 'But he will find that it will not work.'

'Well, he's currently in his office,' said Damian, looking down at the Marauder's Map. 'Probably thinks that -' Damian broke off.

'Something wrong?' asked Sanaro, not taking his eyes away from the barrier over Hogwarts.

'I can see Daphne and Draco on the Map.'

'But you said the only students left were those from the other Houses,' said Lily.

'I know, but it's clearly labelled "Daphne Greengrass" and "Draco Malfoy". They're currently on the seventh floor and... they just disappeared!'

'What do you mean, "they just disappeared"?'

'Exactly that. They must have gone into the Room of Requirements.'

'In that case, you, Sanaro, and Sirius can go there the moment the barrier is down,' said Voldemort.

'Yes, Father,' the brothers said in unison, before heading off to find Sirius.

Ten minutes later, the barrier was down and the Death Eaters ran down to the castle - though some had to stop and save their fellow Death Eaters when they became trapped in Devil's Snare - and began fighting Hogwarts statues, staff members, students, Order members and Aurors alike. Through all the commotion, Harry, Sanaro and Sirius ran until they were outside the Room of Requirements. It was then that Damian realised something.

'I just realised a flaw in this plan,' said Damian.

'And what would that be?' asked Sirius.

'Just the fact that we'll have to wait out here until one of them emerges,' explained Damian. 'Last year I tried to get in here to find out what Draco was up to, but I never succeeded.'

'For an intelligent boy, you are very stupid sometimes,' said Sanaro, shaking his head. 'Are you or are you not the Heir of Slytherin?'

'I am, but what's that got to do with anything?'

Sanaro shook his head again before speaking directly to Hogwarts herself.

'Hogwarts, can you please let us into the room that Daphne Greengrass and Draco Malfoy are currently occupying?'

Then, before their very eyes, the Room of requirements door appeared.

'That's what it has to do with anything,' Sanaro told Damian, who muttered something incomprehensible under his breath as he followed Sanaro through the door.

The moment Damian entered the room, many people yelled out, 'It's Damian!'

'Damian!' screamed Daphne, running towards Damian before jumping into his arms and kissing him.

'Alright, break it up you two,' said Sanaro, smiling down at them.

Damian and Daphne reluctantly pulled apart, before Draco embraced Damian brotherly, followed by Blaise, Neville, Theodore, Hermione and Luna.

'Thank goodness you are alright. We've been so worried!' said Draco, looking his brother-in-everything-but-blood, up and down. 'But how did the two of you get away?'

'Dumbledore was stupid enough to think that they would be secure in my ancestor's old home,' said Sirius, steeping forward.

'Sirius!' yelled Hermione, hurrying forward and hugging him. 'But how? We saw Bellatrix kill you!'

Sirius, Harry and Sanaro quickly filled them and the other Slytherins in on what had happened over the past few weeks, including the facts on how Sirius and Lily were still alive. In the end, they all left the Room and went to participate in the commencing battle.

The battle lasted the entire night and as dawn approached, Dumbledore finally emerged catching Voldemort off guard - in the Great Hall - as he began to duel with him. Everyone in the hall stopped to watch to two powerful wizards do battle with one another, wondering who would win.

Damian - who had been fighting Ron Weasley, Dean Thomas and Seamus Finnigan, at once - stopped and watched on fearfully, as did Lily and Sanaro - who were fighting Moody, Shacklebolt and another Auror. Sirius and Remus stopped their battle with Sprout, McGonagall and Flitwick, as did Daphne in her catfight with Ginny Weasley.

For an hour, Voldemort and Dumbledore fought and by the end, Voldemort was beginning to tire since he had been fighting Aurors since the beginning of last night, compared to Dumbledore who had been sitting around in his office. As a result, Dumbledore was able to defeat Voldemort. Voldemort's wand went flying and he fell to his knees in exhaustion, glaring up at the ancient man in front of him.

Dumbledore raised his wand and aimed it straight at Voldemort's heart. Nagini slithered forward and wrapped herself around her husband, baring her fangs at Dumbledore and ignoring Voldemort's hisses for her to save herself. Damian, having seen this, hurried forward, ignoring Lily's startled cry, and went and stood in front of his father.

'Stand aside, Damian, or else!' snarled Dumbledore.

'If you want to kill my father and mother then you'll have to kill me first!' Damian told Dumbledore coldly, ignoring his father's orders for him to stay out of it.

'So be it,' growled Dumbledore, letting his true nature show to all. Most of the hall gasped. The Dumbledore they knew would never kill someone. Things were starting to become a lot clearer now.

'You will try, but you won't succeed.'

'You think that your power can equal mine?' Dumbledore laughed.

'You know nothing of my power!' snapped Damian, before realising what he had just said. 'Wait a minute - it's you. You are the Dark Lord in the prophecy made. _The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches... born to those who have defied him, born as the seventh month dies... and he will have power the Dark Lord knows not... and either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives... the one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord will be born as the seventh month dies..._' he recited. 'That changes everything. That means that one of us is definitely about to leave for good -'

'One of us?' jeered Dumbledore. He was angry. Angry enough to forget about his grandfather act.

Most of the hall was muttering quietly and the vast majority of students, teachers, Aurors and Order members, out their wands away in surrender. They would no longer follow someone like Dumbledore.

'So you think it will be you, do you, Damian?' continued Dumbledore. 'The boy who has survived by accident -'

'You're kidding yourself if you think I survived everything by accident,' Damian spat as the two wizards began to circle each other.

'Luck then, as everyone will see now!' said Dumbledore, before bellowing, 'AVADA KEDAVRA!', while Damian yelled, 'EXPELLIARMUS!' at the exact same time.

Everyone watched as beams of green and red fought each other. During which time, Voldemort and Nagini watched on fearfully as Dumbledore's green beam became longer. However, Damian took a deep breath and call upon the power the he had been learning to control over the past year. The power that had been realised after finding out that Dumbledore had lied to him for six years. The power that Dumbledore knew not of, in the way of how powerful Harry could get. Due to this power, Harry forced the Killing Curse back at Dumbledore and before they knew it, Damian was holding Dumbledore's wand. The old wizard lay dead on the floor.

There was a moment of silence, but it was soon entered as Nagini let out a hiss of pain.

'Mother?' said a panicked Sanaro.

Green light began to surround her and before they knew it, Nagini was a woman once more.

'Nagini?' whispered Voldemort, helping her to her feet.

He took her face in his hands, before taking her lips in his own. They then broke about and embraced each other.

'You're trembling,' Voldemort commented, with a slight laugh.

'I know,' sobbed a happy Nagini. 'The curse must have been broken with Dumbledore's death! Where are our boys? I want to hold them.'

'Right here, Mother!' Sanaro smiled as Damian and he walked over to them.

'Oh my boys! I can't tell you how much joy it brings me to be able to hug you properly again!' exclaimed Nagini, wrapping her arms around the two of them. The family wasn't aware of the commotion going on around them.

Those who were still loyal to Dumbledore were still fighting for their leader. Damian only became aware of it when he heard a scream. Glancing around he saw that Daphne had sent Ginny flying across the room where she then laid unconscious. Daphne, feeling Damian's eyes on her, glanced around and smiled beautifully at him. It was then that Harry knew that everything would be alright.

* * *

**THE END**

**PLEASE REVIEW THE STORY!**

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**A/N:** While this has been updated, it will be updated again once this story has been beta'ed for all the spelling mistakes, etc. I know that I have made but keep overlooking. Eventually this story will be error free. :)

**SEVERUS'S LIFE:** If you're a fan of Severus and Tom Riddle, then check out Severus's Life forum. It is a new forum, on this site, where they are the good guys with bashing of Albus Dumbledore. You can also do some roleplaying. If you have read _The Truth Revealed_ and like it, then you should check out this forum as it is along the same lines. The link is on my profile.

**STORIES IN SERIES:  
**-The Truth Revealed [complete]  
-The Truth Revealed: What If [to be written]

**Azaelia Silmarwen facebook page:** link on profile  
**Written: **30 December 2011  
**Updated:  
Beta:**

**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT CLAIM OWNERSHIP OVER THE ORIGINAL COPYRIGHTED MATERIAL IN THIS STORY. THIS IS A NON-PROFIT FANDUB CREATED BY FANS, FOR FANS. NO COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT INTENDED, FAIR USE ONLY.**


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